ANCIENT  TALES 
FROM   MANY    LANDS 


PLATE  I 

MAUI  :    THE  POLYNESIAN  CULTURE   HERO 

Carved  Wooden  Image  in  the  Museum,  University  College 
of  Wales,  Aberystwyth 


ANCIENT  TALES 
FROM  MANY  LANDS 

A  COLLECTION  OF  FOLK  STORIES 


BY 

R.  M.  FLEMING 


WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY 
H.  J.  FLEURE,  D.Sc. 

PROFESSOR    OF    GEOGRAPHY    AND    ANTHROPOLOGY 
UNIVERSITY    COLLEGE    OF     WALES,    ABERYSTWYTH 


NEW  YORK 
FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


Printed  in  Great  Britain 
ty  Turnbulllf  Spears,  Edinburgh 


PREFACE 

BEFORE  Miss  Fleming  became  known  for  her  work  on 
behalf  of  the  Geographical  Association,  she  had  attained 
a  reputation  among  teachers  for  her  wide  reading  of 
folk  traditions,  and  her  skill  in  using  folk  tales  for  teach- 
ing children  social  geography  and  history.  By  reading 
the  tales  in  the  original  in  several  languages,  and  in 
literal  translations  by  native  writers  in  most  others, 
Miss  Fleming  has  tried  to  get  at  the  spirit  of  the  tales, 
and  her  scientific  spirit  is  well  shown  in  the  choice 
of  illustrations  for  this  book.  Teachers  will  welcome 
illustrations  that  are  in  the  spirit  of  tradition,  and  the 
children  who  read  the  book  will  be  even  more  pleased 
by  them.  Interpretations  are  suggested,  and  comments 
added,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  researcher,  and 
Miss  Fleming's  high  standard  has  recently  been  brought 
out  by  her  valued  contributions  to  both  the  Geographical 
and  the  Anthropological  Sections  of  the  British  Associa- 
tion for  the  Advancement  of  Science  at  Edinburgh, 
1921.  There  is  thus  behind  the  present  book,  in  spite 
of  its  simplicity  of  form  and  directness  of  appeal,  a  long 
course  of  reading  and  thought,  a  weight  of  learning, 
and  an  almost  unique  successful  teaching  experience,  a 
combination  rare  enough  to  give  the  book  a  special 
interest. 

The  progress  of  research  has  shown  of  late  how  much 
truth  there  is  behind  what  were  supposed  to  be  fanciful 
Greek  tales,  and  we  are  ever  learning  new  meanings 

5 


2039931 


6      ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

behind  the  Hebrew  traditions.  It  is  almost  certain  that 
research  will  bring  out,  in  similar  fashion,  points  of  value 
in  British  tradition,  which  have  been  too  long  neglected, 
largely  because  of  a  faulty  view  of  history.  It  has  been 
too  lightly  assumed  that  the  "  Anglo-Saxons  "  cleared 
out  the  earlier  peoples  of  Britain,  or  chased  them  into 
Wales,  and  so  traditions  of  pre-English  Britain  have  been 
considered  "  alien  "  by  English-speaking  people.  This 
view  is  being  corrected  by  fuller  knowledge,  and  so  our 
older  traditions  claim  fresh  study,  and  it  is  important 
to  try,  as  this  book  does,  to  spread  a  proper  grasp  of  the 
interpretation  of  tradition. 

The  authoress  is  right  in  endeavouring  to  draw  geog- 
raphy and  history  nearer  to  one  another,  and  to  encourage 
the  teaching  of  both  together,  provided  the  teacher 
deals  with  social  geography  and  social  history  on  a 
world  basis  rather  than  a  national  one.  By  right  use  of 
folk  tale,  as  suggested  in  this  book,  notions  of  chronology 
can  be  given  a  reality  and  a  value  difficult  to  attain  other- 
wise, and  the  pupil  can  be  led  to  appreciate  on  the  one 
hand  the  common  humanity  of  the  world's  peoples,  and 
on  the  other  the  diversities  of  their  long  struggles  with 
differing  environments.  We  have  here  a  channel  of 
approach  to  the  study  of  humanity  freed  from  the  blight- 
ing influence  of  the  idea  of  the  State  as  power ;  we  are 
led  to  see  men  facing  differing  problems,  and  moulding 
themselves  differently  according  to  the  solutions  found 
or  attempted.  The  spread  of  thought  and  teaching  on 
such  lines  would  not  only  influence  greatly  the  breadth 
of  education  and  the  outlook  of  future  citizens,  it  would 
also  help  not  a  little  towards  diminishing  foolish  and 
ignorant  prejudices  which  now  divide  the  world's 
peoples.  To  do  this  is  to  promote  mutual  under- 
standing and  appreciation  based  upon  a  rich  foundation 


PREFACE  7 

of  knowledge,  and  that  is  the  central  aim  of  the  authoress' 
work  in  this  and  in  allied  fields. 

The  teacher  will  find  the  special  chapters  written  for 
him  of  great  value,  as  they  come  from  a  school  teacher 
of  long  experience,  and  not  from  a  professorial  or  an 
arm-chair  critic  of  the  schools,  and  indeed  the  mind  of 
the  teacher  is  strongly  in  evidence,  alongside  of  that  of 
the  careful  student,  throughout  this  book,  which  should 
spread  far  and  wide  amongst  the  schools  of  the  country, 
as  well  as  among  those  who  try  to  interpret  tradition, 
and  who  will  no  doubt  welcome  it  cordially. 

H.  J.  FLEURE 

January   1922 


FOREWORD 

FOR  the  suggestion  which  led  to  the  collection  of  these 
tales,  and  for  anything  in  the  book  which  is  of  any  value, 
I  am  indebted  to  Dr  H.  J.  Fleure,  Professor  of  Geog- 
raphy and  Anthropology,  University  College  of  Wales, 
Aberystwyth,  and  I  am  happy  to  have  this  opportunity 
of  recording  my  gratitude  to  him.  I  should  also  like 
to  thank  Mr  J.  D.  Williams,  Librarian  to  the  University 
College  of  Wales,  Aberystwyth,  for  much  valuable 
help  in  the  matter  of  getting  the  necessary  books.  Mr 
Harold  J.  E.  Peake,  Honorary  Curator  of  the  Museum, 
Newbury,  and  Dr  A.  C.  Haddon,  F.R.S.,  Reader  in 
Ethnography,  Cambridge,  gave  me  much  valuable  help 
and  criticism. 

My  very  grateful  thanks  are  due  to  Mr  E.  N.  Fallaize, 
Honorary  Secretary  of  the  Royal  Anthropological 
Institute,  for  help  in  choosing  and  collecting  the 
above  illustrations ;  and  to  the  Council  of  the  Royal 
Anthropological  Institute  for  permission  to  reproduce 
Plate  II.  from  the  Journal  of  the  Royal  Anthropological 
Institute,  and  Plate  III.  from  Man ;  to  the  Director 
and  Trustees  of  the  British  Museum  for  Plate  VIII. 
from  the  Guide  to  the  Babylonian  and  Assyrian 
Antiquities  in  the  British  Museum,  and  Plate  VI.  from 
Excavations  at  Ephesus :  The  Archaic  Artemisia,  as 
well  as  for  permission  to  figure  Plates  VIII.  and  VII. 
from  the  collections  of  the  Ethnographical  and  the 
Prints  Departments  respectively.  In  connection  with 
the  last  named,  I  have  to  thank  Mr  T.  Athol  Joyce,  of 


io    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

the  Ethnographical  Department,  and  Mr  Lawrence 
Binyon,  of  the  Prints  Department,  for  their  kind  assist- 
ance. I  am  indebted  to  the  Committee  of  the  British 
School  at  Athens  for  permission  to  reproduce  Plate  IV. 
from  Vol.  IX.,  Plate  3  of  the  Report  of  the  British 
School  at  Athens,  and  to  the  Honorary  Curator  of  the 
Museum,  Univ.  Coll.  Wales,  Aberystwyth,  for  Plate  I. 

R.  M.  FLEMING 

January   1922 


CONTENTS 

PACK 

PRINCE    FIRE-SHINE   AND    PRINCE    FIRE-SUBSIDE.      A   JAPANESE 

STORY          .........  15 

THE  LEGEND  OF  MAUI.     A  POLYNESIAN  MYTH      ...  20 

A  BABYLONIAN  STORY  OF  THE  CREATION         ....  26 

MOTHER    ISHTAR.       AN    ASSYRIAN    STORY   OF    HOW    LOVE    WAS 

LOST            .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .  31 

A  NEW  ZEALAND  STORY      .          .          .          .          .          .          .  35 

PWANKU.     A  CHINESE  STORY        .         .         .         .         .         .  39 

A  HINDU  STORY  OF  THE  CREATION       .          .          .         .         .  41 

How  GANGES  CAME  TO  EARTH.     A  HINDU  STORY                     «  44 

A  WEST  AFRICAN  STORY  OF  THE  CREATION  .         .         .         •  46 

THE    SUN,    THE    MOON,    AND    THE    STARS.      ANOTHER    WEST 

AFRICAN  STORY    ........  49 

AN  ICELANDIC  STORY  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .  53 

A  STORY  FROM  EGYPT         .          .          .          .          .          .         .  57 

WHY  PEOPLE   DON'T  LIVE   FOR   EVER.      AN  AMERICAN-INDIAN 

STORY          .          .          .         .          .          .                    .          ;  60 

THE  COMING  OF  FLINT  AND  OF  TUINA.     A  NORTH  AMERICAN 

STORY          .........  65 

How  DEATH  CAME  INTO  THE  WORLD.     A  HINDU  STORY         .  70 

THE  CHURNING  OF  THE  OCEAN.     A  HINDU  STORY         .         .  72 

THE    LEGEND    OF    THE    POSSESSED    PRINCESS.      AN    EGYPTIAN 

STORY          .........  76 

II 


FAGB 


12    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

AN  UNFORTUNATE  MAIDEN.     A  GREEK  STORY       ...         80 
THE  DANCE  OF  THE  GIANTS.     A  BRITISH  STORY    ...         84 
DIARMUID  AND  GRAINNE.     AN  IRISH  STORY  .... 

THE  LADY  OF  LLYN  Y  FAN  FACH.     A  WELSH  STORY     .         .         95 
SANEHAT.     AN  EGYPTIAN  STORY  ......         99 

GUDEA,  PATESI  OF  LAGASH.     A  STORY  FROM  BABYLONIA          .       104 
THE  SONS  OF  PANDU.     A  HINDU  STORY        .         .         .         .        no 

DEUCALION  AND  PYRRHA.     A  GREEK  STORY  .         .         .         .120 

THE  STORY  OF  Yu  FROM  THE  SHU  KING.     A  CHINESE  STORY        124 
HAMMURABI,  KING  OF  BABYLON    .         .         .         .         .         .129 

CHANGKAT  RAMBIAN.     A  MALAY  STORY         .         .         .         .134 

NUADHAT  OF   THE   SlLVER  HAND   AND   BALOR   OF   THE   MlGHTY 

BLOWS.     AN  IRISH  STORY     .         .         .         .         .         .138 

SHAU  KANG.     A  CHINESE  STORY  .         .  .         .         .  .142 

CHOWSIN  AND  THE  WARLIKE  PRINCE.     A  CHINESE  SIORY  .        144 

RAMA  AND  SITA.     A  STORY  OF  CEYLON  .         .         .  .149 

THE  LAKE  DWELLERS.     A  Swiss  STORY  .                   .  .        155 

APPENDICES  :    THE    USE    OF    TRADITIONAL    STORIES    IN    THE 
TEACHING  OF  GEOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY — 

I.  TRADITION  AND  GEOGRAPHY  .         .         .         .         .163 

II.  TRADITION  AND  HISTORY        .         .         .         .         .176 

III.  THE  SELECTION  OF  TALES      .         .         .         .         .186 

BIBLIOGRAPHY      .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .192 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS1 

PLATE 

I.  MAUI,  THE  POLYNESIAN  CULTURE  HERO          .         .    Frontispiece 

(Carved  wooden  image  in  the  Museum,  University  College  of  Wales,  Aberysttvyth.) 

PACING  PAGB 

II.  THE  SACRED  CROCODILE  OF  MUSAWA,  NIGERIA        .         .       46 

(From  Journal,  Royal  Anthropological  Institute,  Vol.  XXXVIII.,  PI.  IX.) 

HI.  A  STONEY  INDIAN         .......       60 

(From  Man,  1920,  PI.  E.) 

IV.  FAIENCE     RELIEF    OF    WILD     GOAT    AND     KIDS,     FROM 

KNOSSOS,  CRETE        .......       80 

(From  Annual  British  School,  Athens,  Vol.  IX.,  PI.  III.) 

V.  STONEHENGE         ........       84 

(From  a  photograph  by  J.  Chivers,  Devises.) 

VI.  THE  VEILED  ARTEMIS  :   A  TERRA-COTTA  FIGURINE   FROM 

THE  TEMPLE  OF  CRCESUS  .         .         .         .         .         .120 

(From  "British  Museum:  Excavations  at  Ephesus:  the  Archaic  Artemisia,"  by 
D.  G.  Hogarth,  fig.  92,  p.  315.) 

VII.  Yu  THE  GREAT  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .124 

(From  a  painting,  by  a  Japanese  artist,  in  the  British  Museum.) 
VIII.   (K)HAMMURABI  AND  SHAMASH,  THE  SUN  GOD  .          .130 

(From  A  Guide  to  the  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  Antiquities,  British  Museum, 
Ed.  2,  PI.  XXXI.) 

IX.  RAMA  :    A  BRONZE  FIGURE  IN  THE  BRITISH  MUSEUM  .     1 50 

1  Special  Note. — The  illustrations  have  been  chosen,  not  for  their  bearing  on  the 
action  of  the  stories,  but  to  illustrate  the  culture  of  the  people  who  told  them. 

13 


ANCIENT  TALES 
FROM   MANY    LANDS 

PRINCE  FIRE-SHINE  AND 
PRINCE  FIRE-SUBSIDE 

A   JAPANESE    STORY 

LONG  ago  in  Japan  there  was  a  prince  named  Prince 
Rice-in-Plenty,  who  ruled  over  the  fertile  plain  called 
the  Land  of  Fresh  Rice  Ears.  This  land  is  opposite  to 
the  Land  of  Korea. 

Now,  when  Prince  Rice-in-Plenty  left  his  place  in 
heaven  and  came  to  rule  this  land,  he  pushed  aside  the 
eight-fold  clouds,  and  came  floating  across  the  Floating 
Bridge  of  Heaven  to  the  fair  land  of  the  Thousand  Rice 
Ears. 

When  the  Prince  saw  it,  he  exclaimed,  "  This  is  a 
land  on  which  the  morning  sun  shines  straight,  and 
which  the  evening  sun  makes  bright.  So  it  is  an 
exceedingly  good  place." 

He  built  himself  a  palace  of  stout  rock  pillars,  and 
made  great  wooden  crossbeams,  and  dwelt  there. 

Now  one  day,  as  he  walked  abroad,  he  met  the  most 
beautiful  princess.  So  lovely  was  she  that  her  name  was 
Princess  Blossoming  Brilliantly,  like  the  flowers  upon  the 
trees.  At  once  Prince  Rice-in-Plenty  fell  in  love  with 
her,  and  asked  her  to  marry  him. 

She  replied  that  he  must  first  ask  her  father,  the  King 
of  the  Mountains.  So  Prince  Rice-in-Plenty  sent  a 
message  to  her  father,  asking  if  he  might  marry  Princess 
Blossoming  Brilliantly. 

15 


16     ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

The  King  of  the  Mountains  sent  back  the  very  ugly 
sister  of  the  princess,  and  with  her  a  present,  saying  that 
he  would  be  very  glad  for  the  prince  to  marry  this  ugly 
elder  sister. 

Alas !  she  was  so  very  ugly  that  the  Prince  was  quite 
frightened,  and  sent  her  straight  back  to  her  father. 
Then  he  married  the  Princess  Blossoming  Brilliantly. 

Now  the  King  of  the  Mountains  was  much  vexed  at 
this  treatment  of  his  elder  daughter,  and  he  sent  word 
to  the  Prince,  saying  : — 

"  Had  you  married  my  elder  daughter,  though  snow 
should  fall  and  wind  should  blow,  thy  children  should 
have  lived  for  ever  like  the  everlasting  rocks.  Now, 
however,  they  shall  be  but  frail,  and  shall  die  like  the 
flowers  upon  the  trees." 

So  for  that  reason,  it  is  said,  the  Emperors  of  Japan 
do  not  have  very  long  lives. 

Now  they  had  two  children,  one  named  Prince  Fire- 
Shine  and  one  named  Prince  Fire-Subside.  They  were 
given  these  strange  names  because  a  fire  broke  out  in  the 
palace  just  before  they  were  born,  and  died  down  again 
just  afterwards,  in  time  for  the  children  to  be  saved. 

Now,  Prince  Fire-Shine  made  his  living  by  fishing  on 
the  sea,  and  caught  both  great  and  little  fish.  But 
Prince  Fire-Subside  made  his  living  on  the  mountains, 
and  hunted  for  wild  animals. 

One  day  Prince  Fire-Subside  said  to  his  elder  brother 
— "  Let  us  change  places,  you  give  me  your  fish  hook, 
and  I  will  give  you  my  bows  and  arrows." 

For  a  long  time  Prince  Fire-Shine  would  not  agree 
to  this,  but  at  last  he  gave  in.  So  Prince  Fire-Subside 
went  a-fishing,  but  alack-a-day  !  he  never  caught  a  single 
fish,  and  what  was  very  much  worse,  he  lost  his  brother's 
fish  hook  in  the  sea  !  Then  his  brother  came  and  said  : — 
"  The  mountains  have  luck  for  thee,  and  the  sea  has 
luck  for  me.  Come  now,  give  me  back  my  hook." 

But  Fire-Subside  answered,  "  I  can't  give  you  back 


FIRE-SHINE  AND  FIRE-SUBSIDE          17 

the  hook,  for  I  did  not  catch  a  single  fish  with  it,  and  at 
last  I  lost  it  in  the  sea." 

But  Fire-Shine  only  kept  asking  for  the  hook  the  more 
earnestly.  Then  Fire-Subside  took  off  his  huge  sabre 
and  broke  it  in  pieces,  of  which  he  made  500  fish  hooks. 
These  he  offered  to  his  elder  brother,  who  would  not 
take  them,  but  only  kept  on  saying,  "  I  want  my  own 
first  fish  hook  that  brought  me  luck." 

Then  Fire-Subside  sat  by  the  seashore  and  wept 
aloud.  Hereupon  there  came  along  the  Salt  King,  and 
asked,  "  Why  are  you  weeping  ?  "  The  Prince  replied, 
"  I  exchanged  my  bow  and  arrow  for  my  elder  brother's 
fish  hook.  Now  I  have  lost  the  hook,  and  though  I  have 
offered  him  many  fish  hooks  in  exchange,  he  will  not 
take  them.  He  only  keeps  on  asking  for  the  hook  that  I 
have  lost." 

So  the  Salt  King  at  once  built  a  beautiful  little  boat 
of  bamboo  strips  plaited  very  tightly.  In  this  he  put 
Prince  Fire-Subside,  and  pushed  him  off,  telling  him  to 
go  on  till  he  came  to  a  pleasant  road.  Along  this  road 
he  was  to  go  in  the  boat  until  he  came  to  a  palace  built 
like  fishes'  scales,  the  palace  of  the  Ocean  King. 

He  added,  "  When  you  come  to  the  gate  of  the  palace, 
you  will  see  a  many-branched  cassia  tree  above  a  well. 
Sit  on  the  top  of  the  tree  till  the  Ocean  King's  daughter 
comes  to  you." 

Everything  happened  as  the  Salt  King  had  said,  and 
he  climbed  up  into  the  cassia  tree  and  sat  there. 

Soon  the  maidens  of  the  Sea  King's  daughter  came  to 
the  well  to  draw  water.  In  the  well  there  was  a  light, 
so  they  looked  up  and  saw  the  beautiful  young  man 
in  the  cassia  tree. 

They  thought  it  very  strange,  but  when  he  begged  for 
a  drink,  they  offered  him  some  water  in  a  beautiful 
jewelled  vessel. 

Instead  of  drinking  the  water,  the  Prince  unloosed 
the  jewel  at  his  neck,  and  placed  it  in  the  vessel,  where  it 
stuck  so  tightly  to  the  sides  that  the  maidens  could  not 


1 8    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

unloose  it.  So  they  went  back  and  showed  it  to  the 
Princess  and  said,  "  There  is  someone  sitting  in  the 
cassia  tree  above  the  well.  He  is  more  beautiful  even 
than  the  King.  So  when  he  asked  for  a  drink,  we 
respectfully  gave  him  some  water,  but,  instead  of 
drinking,  he  placed  this  jewel  in  the  vessel.  As  it  stuck 
so  tightly  to  the  side  that  we  could  not  get  it  off,  we 
brought  it  to  you  as  a  present." 

Then  the  Princess,  thinking  it  all  very  strange,  went 
and  looked  at  the  Prince  in  the  cassia  tree.  He  was  so 
beautiful  that  she  was  delighted,  and  went  back  to  her 
father  saying,  "  There  is  a  beautiful  person  at  our  gate." 
Then  the  Sea  King  himself  went  out  to  look,  and  was  so 
delighted  that  he  brought  the  Prince  into  the  palace. 
Here  he  spread  eight  layers  of  sea-lions'  skins,  and  on 
these  eight  layers  of  silk  rugs,  and  begged  the  Prince  to 
recline  on  them. 

Then  he  made  a  great  feast,  and  married  Prince  Fire- 
Subside  to  his  daughter.  For  three  years  they  were 
very  happy  together.  But  one  night,  the  Prince  began 
to  think  of  all  that  had  gone  before,  and  heaved  a  deep 
sigh. 

This  troubled  the  Princess  so  much  that  she  said  to  her 
father,  "  For  three  years  the  Prince  has  been  very  happy, 
but  to-night  he  heaved  a  very  deep  sigh.  What  can  be 
the  matter  with  him  ?  " 

So  the  Sea  King  asked  Prince  Fire-Subside  what 
was  the  matter,  and  the  Prince  told  him  the  whole  story 
of  the  fish  hook.  Then  the  Sea  King  summoned  together 
all  the  fish  of  the  sea,  both  great  and  small,  and  asked  if 
any  of  them  had  by  chance  taken  the  hook. 

Now  the  tai  fish  complained  that  it  had  something 
sticking  in  its  throat  and  could  not  eat.  On  its  throat 
being  examined,  the  hook  was  discovered  sticking  there. 
It  was  taken  out  and  washed,  and  given  to  Prince  Fire- 
Subside. 

Then  the  Sea  King  told  Prince  Fire-Subside  to  give 
back  the  hook  to  his  elder  brother,  Prince  Fire-Shine, 


FIRE-SHINE  AND  FIRE-SUBSIDE          19 

and  say  to  him,  "  This  fish  hook  is  a  poor,  silly  thing, 
and  will  make  its  owner  both  poor  and  silly." 

The  Sea  King  also  said  to  the  Prince,  "  If  Prince  Fire- 
Shine  makes  low  fields,  do  you  make  high  ones,  and  if 
he  makes  high  fields,  do  you  make  low  ones.  As  I  rule 
the  waters,  your  elder  brother  will  certainly  be  ruined." 

Then  he  gave  the  Prince  two  beautiful  jewels,  one  to 
make  the  tide  flow  in,  and  one  to  make  the  tide  ebb  out. 
He  told  him  that  if  Prince  Fire-Shine  grew  angry  about 
his  fields  being  ruined,  and  attacked  Prince  Fire-Subside, 
the  latter  had  only  to  put  forth  the  tide-flowing  jewel  to 
drown  him.  Then,  if  Fire-Shine  expressed  his  sorrow, 
Fire-Subside  was  to  put  forth  the  tide-ebbing  jewel 
and  let  him  live. 

Having  said  this,  the  King  called  a  crocodile,  one 
fathom  long,  and  asked  him  to  take  the  Prince  to  the 
Upper  World.  He  warned  the  crocodile  to  do  it 
respectfully,  and  not  to  frighten  him  in  mid-ocean. 

When  he  reached  the  Upper  World,  Prince  Fire- 
Subside  sent  back  the  crocodile,  and  gave  the  fish  hook 
to  his  elder  brother,  exactly  as  the  Sea  King  had  told 
him  to  do. 

Upon  this,  Prince  Fire-Shine  became  poorer  and 
poorer,  and  came  savagely  towards  Fire-Subside  to 
attack  him. 

Just  as  he  was  about  to  attack  him,  Prince  Fire-Subside 
put  forth  the  tide-flowing  jewel,  and  nearly  drowned 
Fire-Shine.  Then  Fire-Shine  expressed  his  grief,  and 
Fire-Subside  put  forth  the  tide-ebbing  jewel,  and  saved 
his  elder  brother's  life. 

This  happened  several  times,  and  then  Prince  Fire- 
Shine  bowed  his  head  and  promised  to  be  his  brother's 
guard,  and  to  serve  him  respectfully  by  day  and  night. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MAUI 

A   POLYNESIAN    MYTH 

MOTHER  TARANGA  had  four  sons,  whose  names  all  began 
with  Maui.  One  day  she  and  her  sons  and  relatives 
were  dancing  together.  Now  as  they  were  dancing 
another  little  infant  crept  into  the  house  and  hid  him- 
self behind  the  other  older  Mauis.  Taranga  came  along 
to  count  her  sons,  so  that  they  might  stand  up  ready 
for  the  dance.  This  is  how  she  counted  them :  "  One, 
that's  Maui-taka  ;  two,  that's  Maui-roto  ;  three,  that's 
Maui-pae ;  four,  that's  Maui-waho."  Then  she  saw 
little  Maui  and  cried,  "  Hello,  where  did  this  fifth  child 
come  from  ?  "  Then  little  Maui  said,  "  Ah  !  I'm  your 
child  too."  The  old  woman  counted  over  again,  "  One, 
that's  Maui-taka  ;  two,  that's  Maui-roto  ;  three,  that's 
Maui-pae ;  four,  that's  Maui-waho."  "  No,  you  are 
not  my  child.  This  is  the  first  time  that  I  have  seen 
you."  But  little  Maui  would  not  give  in,  and  stood 
between  the  ranks  of  the  dancers  saying  that  he  was 
really  her  child,  till  at  last  Taranga  got  angry  and  said, 
"  You  be  off  out  of  the  house  at  once.  You  are  no  child 
of  mine."  Then  little  Maui  said,  "  Come  now,  mother, 
don't  you  remember  a  little  baby  that  you  had,  and  that 
died  by  the  seashore,  and  was  buried  in  the  sea  foam  ? 
Well,  the  seaweed  caught  me  in  its  long  tangles  and 
wrapped  me  close.  The  waves  of  the  sea  rocked  me  in 
my  seaweed  cradle.  The  winds  blew  me  on  to  the 
shore,  and  the  soft  jelly  fish  on  the  long  sandy  beach 
rolled  themselves  around  me.  Then  came  along  an  old 
man,  who  saw  the  birds  coming  in  flocks  to  peck  me  to 
death.  He  ran  quickly  and  stripped  the  jelly  fish  off 

20 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MAUI  21 

me  and  carried  me  to  his  home.  There  he  hung  me  up 
in  the  roof  so  that  I  might  feel  the  warm  smoke  and  the 
heat  of  the  fire,  and  so  I  was  saved  alive  by  the  kindness 
of  that  old  man.  Then  I  heard  about  the  dance,  and 
so  I  came  here." 

When  his  mother  heard  all  this  she  cried,  "  You  dear 
little  child.  You  are  my  very  own  child  after  all.  I 
shall  call  you  Maui-tiki-tiki.  Come  here  and  kiss  me." 
When  the  four  elder  brothers  saw  their  mother  kiss  and 
fondle  Maui-tiki-tiki,  two  of  them  grew  jealous,  and 
began  to  say  that  he  was  not  their  brother  at  all.  But 
the  other  two  spoke  nobly,  and  said,  "  Never  mind,  let 
him  be  our  dear  brother.  In  the  days  of  peace  remember 
the  proverb,  "  When  you  are  on  friendly  terms,  settle 
small  quarrels  in  a  friendly  way."  It  is  better  for  us,  oh 
brothers,  to  be  kind  to  other  people.  These  are  the 
ways  in  which  people  gain  influence  in  the  world  : — 
By  working  for  food  with  which  to  feed  others,  and  by 
caring  for  the  good  of  other  people  more  than  their 
own,  so  that  peace  may  spread  through  the  world." 
The  other  two  brothers  quite  agreed  with  this,  so  that 
little  Maui-tiki-tiki  became  one  of  the  family  without 
any  quarrelling.  When  Maui  grew  older,  he  became 
very  clever  in  magic  and  enchantments,  and  he  also 
became  very  fond  of  mischief. 

He  noticed  that  some  of  the  people  of  his  tribe  daily 
carried  food  as  a  present  to  a  very  old  chieftamess  of  his 
family.  Maui  begged  to  be  allowed  to  take  the  daily 
present  of  food  himself  to  the  old  lady.  For  many  days 
he  took  the  food,  but,  instead  of  carrying  it  to  the  old 
chieftainess,  he  hid  it  each  day.  At  last  she  guessed 
that  something  was  wrong,  and  sniffed,  and  sniffed,  and 
sniffed,  so  that  she  could  smell  who  was  hiding  her  food, 
and  eat  him.  Presently  she  smelt  the  scent  of  Maui, 
and  prepared  to  eat  him,  but  Maui  called  out  that  he 
was  one  of  her  own  family. 

"  Then  why  have  you  treated  me  in  this  deceitful 
way  ?  "  said  she.  Maui  replied  that  it  was  because  he 


22    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

wanted  her  to  give  him  her  jawbone,  so  that  he  could 
work  enchantments  with  it.  The  old  lady  gave  it  to 
him,  and  he  went  off  with  it  in  high  glee. 

Not  long  after  this  Maui  began  to  think  that  the  days 
were  not  nearly  long  enough.  This  was  because  the 
sun  sank  into  the  ocean  so  very  soon  after  it  rose  in  the 
morning.  He  said  to  his  brothers,  "  Let  us  catch  the 
sun  in  a  noose,  so  that  we  can  compel  him  to  go  more 
slowly.  Then  men  will  have  longer  days  in  which  to 
work  for  their  food."  The  brothers  laughed  and  said, 
"  Why,  no  man  could  go  near  the  sun  because  of  his 
terrible  heat."  But  Maui  told  them  that  he  would  help 
them  with  enchantments.  Then  they  began  to  spin 
and  to  twist  ropes  to  make  a  noose  strong  enough  to 
hold  the  sun.  In  doing  this  they  found  out  how  to  plait 
flax  into  square  ropes,  and  flat  ropes,  and  round  ropes. 
At  last  they  had  enough  ropes  ready.  Then  Maui  took 
the  magic  jawbone,  and  his  brothers  took  plenty  of  food 
and  the  ropes,  and  they  all  set  out.  They  travelled  by 
night  and  hid  themselves  by  day,  so  that  the  sun  should 
not  see  them,  and  went  far,  far  to  the  east  till  they  came 
to  the  spot  where  the  sun  rises. 

Here  they  built  a  long  high  wall  of  clay.  At  each  end 
they  built  huts  of  the  boughs  of  trees,  in  which  they 
could  hide  themselves.  When  these  were  finished,  they 
arranged  the  loops  of  the  noose.  Then  the  brothers  of 
Maui  lay  in  wait  on  one  side  of  the  place  out  of  which 
the  sun  rises,  so  that  they  could  catch  him  in  the  noose. 
Maui  lay  in  wait  on  the  other  side  with  the  enchanted 
jawbone  in  his  hand,  so  that  he  could  rush  upon  the  sun 
and  attack  him  while  the  brothers  held  him  in  the 
noose.  At  last  the  sun  came  rising  out  of  his  place  like 
a  red  fire,  spreading  far  and  wide  over  the  mountains 
and  forests.  He  rose  up  and  his  head  and  arms  went 
through  the  noose,  so  that  the  brothers  could  pull  the 
ropes  tight  around  his  body.  Then  the  monster  began 
to  struggle,  and  to  jerk  backwards  and  forwards,  till  the 
snare  shook.  Out  rushed  Maui  and  struck  the  sun  so 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MAUI  23 

fiercely  that  he  cried  for  mercy.  At  last  they  let 
him  go,  but  he  was  so  much  weakened  by  his  wounds 
that  he  was  never  again  able  to  rush  swiftly  through  the 
sky,  but  had  to  creep  slowly,  so  the  days  became  long 
enough  for  men  to  enjoy  them. 

Some  time  after  this,  Maui  went  out  fishing  with  his 
brothers.  His  fish  hook  was  made  of  carved  mother-of- 
pearl  and  ornamented  with  hair  from  the  tail  of  a  dog, 
so  that  it  looked  very  beautiful.  It  was  pointed  with  a 
bit  of  the  magic  jawbone.  Maui  had  noticed  that  there 
was  too  much  sea,  and  not  enough  land,  and  so  he  had 
determined  to  fish  up  some  land  from  the  bottom  of 
the  sea.  This  would  make  islands,  so  that  it  would  be 
easier  for  men  to  find  shelter  when  crossing  the  vast 
ocean.  He  let  down  his  magic  hook,  and  tugged,  and 
tugged,  and  tugged,  breathing  enchantments  all  the 
time.  His  brothers  wept  and  wailed  as  the  sea  became 
churned  into  foam  and  bubbles,  while  the  great  island 
heaved  up  to  the  top.  They  were  sure  they  were  going 
to  be  destroyed.  At  last,  however,  the  island  appeared, 
and  their  canoe  was  grounded  on  it.  Then  Maui  told 
his  brothers  not  to  eat  any  fish  till  he  had  sacrificed  to  the 
gods  and  goddesses.  But  the  brothers  disobeyed  him, 
so  the  island  began  to  shake  and  tremble  because  of  the 
wrath  of  the  gods.  That  is  why  the  island  is  rough  and 
uneven,  with  mountains,  and  plains,  and  cliffs.  If  the 
brothers  had  obeyed,  the  island  would  have  been  smooth, 
and  flat,  and  easy  for  men  to  travel  upon,  just  as  it  was 
when  Maui  fished  it  up  from  the  floor  of  the  ocean. 

It  was  with  an  enchanted  fish  hook  that  Maui  fished 
the  island  from  the  depth  of  the  ocean,  and  if  you  look 
at  a  map  you  will  see  that  Hawkes  Bay  is  the  shape  of  a 
fish  hook,  because  Maui's  enchanted  hook  became  the 
cape  that  stretches  far  out  into  the  sea  there. 

One  night  Maui  wickedly  got  up  and  went  round  and 
put  out  all  the  fires  left  in  the  cooking  houses  of  each 
family.  Quite  early  in  the  morning  he  called  out  to 
the  slaves,  "  I  hunger,  I  hunger.  Cook  some  food 


24    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

quickly  for  me."  The  slaves  found  that  their  cookhouse 
fire  had  gone  out,  so  they  ran  to  all  the  other  houses  in 
the  village  to  get  a  light.  Alas !  all  the  fires  in  the 
village  had  gone  out,  so  no  food  could  be  cooked.  The 
slaves  were  frightened  and  would  not  obey  their 
masters  any  longer.  Then  Maui  set  out  to  find  the 
goddess  of  fire  and  get  a  light  from  her.  His  mother 
warned  him  not  to  play  tricks  with  her.  Off  set  Maui, 
and  soon  found  the  goddess  of  fire.  He  told  her  that 
he  was  her  grandchild,  and  begged  some  fire  from 
her. 

The  goddess  welcomed  him  gladly,  and  pulled  out 
one  of  her  nails  and  gave  it  to  him.  As  she  did  this, 
fire  flowed  out  of  the  nail.  Maui  enjoyed  seeing  her 
do  anything  so  wonderful,  so  instead  of  taking  the  fire 
back  to  the  people  who  were  waiting  so  anxiously  for  it, 
he  just  put  it  out  and  went  back  for  some  more.  He 
told  the  goddess  that  it  had  gone  out,  so  she  pulled  out 
another  nail,  and  exactly  the  same  thing  happened. 
Wicked  Maui  went  a  little  way,  and  again  put  out  the 
fire  and  went  back  for  some  more.  When  he  had  done 
this  several  times,  the  goddess  said,  "  Why,  the  fellow 
is  playing  tricks  on  me."  She  pulled  out  her  last  nail, 
dashed  it  on  the  ground,  and  set  the  whole  place  on  fire. 
Maui  rushed  to  escape,  but  the  flames  rushed  after  him. 
Then  he  changed  himself  into  a  fleet-winged  eagle, 
but  still  the  flames  rushed  after  him.  He  tried  to  cool 
himself  in  a  pool,  but  the  water  was  boiling.  He  tried 
to  fly  to  the  forest  to  alight  on  the  trees,  but  they  were 
all  burning  fiercely.  The  very  earth  and  sea  caught 
fire,  and  Maui  nearly  perished.  Suddenly  Maui  called 
on  the  father  of  winds  and  storms  to  send  rain  to  put 
out  the  flames  that  were  pursuing  him.  Immediately 
heavy  lasting  rain  began  to  fall  and  the  fire  was  put  out. 
In  fact  the  goddess  of  fire  only  with  great  difficulty  saved 
a  few  sparks  which  she  hid  in  the  wood  of  certain  trees 
so  as  to  keep  them  from  being  altogether  lost.  This  is 
why  men  have  to  choose  the  wood  of  certain  trees,  dry 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MAUI  25 

it  in  the  sun,  and  rub  pieces  of  it  together  when  they 
want  to  make  a  light. 

Maui's  last  act  was  to  seek  out  the  goddess  of  death, 
and  try  to  steal  her  secret  from  her,  so  that  men  need 
never  die.  As  the  young  hero  set  out  to  seek  her,  there 
came  to  him  as  companions  the  small  robin  and  the  large 
robin,  the  thrush,  and  the  yellow  hammer,  and  every 
kind  of  little  bird,  and  the  water  wagtail.  They  all 
started  off  with  Maui  in  the  evening,  and  found  the 
goddess  of  death  fast  asleep.  Then  Maui  said,  "  My 
little  friends,  don't  laugh  if  you  see  me  trying  to  play 
tricks  on  this  old  woman."  The  little  birds  were 
frightened  because  she  looked  so  very  terrible,  and 
begged  Maui  to  take  care  of  himself.  He  replied  that 
if  only  they  would  not  laugh,  but  would  just  keep  quite 
quiet  till  he  had  played  his  trick  on  her,  he  would  not 
only  come  through  the  struggle  safely,  but  would  never 
have  to  die  at  all.  Then  he  crept  towards  the  fierce- 
looking  old  goddess.  He  looked  so  very  funny  that  the 
little  birds  had  to  screw  up  their  tiny  little  cheeks  so 
as  not  to  laugh.  At  last  the  water  wagtail  couldn't  keep 
his  laughter  in  any  longer,  and  broke  out  into  his  loud, 
merry,  cheerful  note.  Alas !  upon  this  the  old  woman 
awoke,  saw  Maui,  and  crushed  him  to  death. 

So  the  goddess  of  death  lived,  and  human  beings  and 
plants  and  animals  have  had  to  die  ever  since. 


A  BABYLONIAN  STORY  OF  THE  CREATION 

IN  the  very  beginning  of  things  there  was  no  world  at 
all.  No  reed  had  yet  sprung  up.  No  tree  had  been 
created.  There  were  no  animals  and  no  plants.  No 
brick  had  been  made,  nor  were  there  any  cities  nor  any 
temples  for  the  city  gods.  Indeed,  there  were  not  even 
any  gods  then.  There  were  only  two  great  heaving, 
confused  masses  of  water,  in  which  dwelt  two  dragons, 
one  named  Apsu,  and  the  other  named  Tiamat.  From 
the  watery  waste  in  which  Apsu  and  Tiamat  lived  were 
born  the  gods,  so  Apsu  and  Tiamat  felt  that  they  were 
the  father  and  mother  of  the  gods. 

As  soon  as  they  were  born,  the  gods  tried  to  bring 
order  and  peace  into  the  universe.  Now  this  vexed 
their  father,  Apsu,  who  did  not  like  new  ways,  and  was 
quite  contented  to  go  on  in  the  old  wild,  watery  disorder. 
So  he  arose  in  a  great  rage  and  called  his  servant  Mummu, 
and  said  to  him,  "  O  I  Mummu,  thou  servant  that 
pleasest  my  spirit,  let  us  go  unto  Tiamat,  my  wife,  the 
mother  of  the  gods." 

So  Apsu  and  Mummu  rose  up  and  went  to  the  mighty 
Tiamat  and  lay  down  before  her.  And  Apsu  cried  out 
to  his  glistening  dragon  wife,  "  By  day  I  cannot  rest ; 
by  night  I  cannot  lie  down  in  peace  because  of  the  dis- 
turbing ways  of  the  gods,  our  children.  Let  us  destroy 
them,  and  then  we  can  peacefully  go  on  in  our  old  dis- 
orderly ways." 

When  Tiamat  heard  these  words,  she  felt  angry  that 
Apsu  had  been  vexed,  and  she  trampled  with  rage  and 
cried  aloud,  and  cursed  the  gods  who  had  disturbed 
Apsu's  old  ways.  She  asked  Apsu  and  Mummu  to  join 
her  in  plotting  to  get  rid  of  the  troublesome  gods.  Just 

26 


2? 

as  they  were  making  their  evil  plans,  there  came  along 
the  greatest  and  wisest  of  the  gods,  who  was  named  Ea. 
He  listened,  and  heard  the  three  of  them  muttering  and 
growling  and  snarling  curses  against  the  gods.  But  he 
was  so  wise  that  he  thought  of  a  plan  by  which  he  got  rid 
of  Apsu  at  once,  and  put  Mummu,  his  servant,  in  prison. 
So  for  a  time  the  gods  were  able  to  go  on  trying  to  get 
things  into  order  again. 

But  unfortunately  Ea  had  had  to  leave  Tiamat  in  her 
watery  waste,  and  she  was  more  madly  enraged  against 
the  gods  than  before,  because  of  the  loss  of  her  husband, 
Apsu.  She  was  restless  and  full  of  evil  plans,  and  ready 
to  rebel  against  the  gods.  She  soon  found  a  helper  in 
one  of  the  gods  who  had  quarrelled  with  his  brothers. 
Together,  they  planned  to  destroy  the  gods,  and  Tiamat 
created  eleven  huge  monsters  to  help  her.  These  great 
creatures  had  ugly  teeth  of  a  most  alarming  size,  and 
poison  in  their  veins  instead  of  blood.  They  were  so 
very  strong  and  powerful  that  it  seemed  as  if  nothing 
could  now  save  the  gods.  Besides  these  monsters,  she 
created  wild,  roaring  tempests  and  hurricanes,  and 
worked  by  day  and  night  to  make  weapons  to  help  her 
in  her  great  battle  with  the  gods. 

But  once  more  Ea  learnt  all  that  she  was  planning,  and 
told  the  other  gods  that  Tiamat  was  advancing  against 
them  with  vipers  and  dragons,  and  hurricanes  and 
tempests,  and  sharp  weapons,  and  eleven  huge  monsters, 
which  were  most  terrifying  even  to  look  upon. 

Then  the  minds  of  the  gods  were  troubled,  and  they 
were  filled  with  fear  and  distress.  They  sent  Ea  to 
try  to  persuade  Tiamat  to  give  up  her  cruel  plan.  Ea 
came  near  to  the  mighty  dragon,  and  begged  her  to 
give  up  her  revenge,  and  to  leave  the  gods  free  to  go  on 
putting  things  in  order.  But  Tiamat  only  muttered,  and 
growled,  and  raged  the  more  fiercely,  and  came  hurrying 
on  with  her  horrid  army.  Picture  the  dismay  and 
distress  of  the  gods  when  Ea  told  them  the  dreadful 
news. 


28    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

One  only  amongst  them,  the  great  god  Marduk,  did 
not  lose  his  courage.  He  stepped  proudly  forward, 
kissed  his  father  on  the  lips,  and  said  to  him,  "  O !  my 
father,  rejoice  and  be  glad,  for  thou  shalt  tread  upon 
the  neck  of  Tiamat,  the  hateful  dragon." 

Then  Marduk's  father  forgot  his  fear,  and  told  his 
son  to  set  out  bravely,  for  he  would  certainly  be  given 
strength  to  slay  the  dreaded  Tiamat  and  her  evil  army. 
The  other  gods  all  gathered  together  and  made  a  great 
feast,  and  when  they  had  eaten  bread  and  drunk  sesame 
wine,  they  prepared  a  lordly  chamber  for  Marduk,  and 
made  him  a  prince  among  the  gods.  But  in  order  to 
test  his  power  of  being  able  both  to  destroy  and  to  create 
again,  they  placed  a  garment  before  him.  They  said  to 
Marduk,  "  Command  now,  and  let  the  garment  vanish, 
and  speak  the  word  again,  and  let  the  garment  re-appear." 

Marduk  opened  his  mouth  and  spoke,  and  at  his  word 
the  garment  disappeared.  He  spoke  again,  and  behold, 
there  was  the  garment  in  its  place  again.  When  he  had 
done  this  twice,  the  gods  rejoiced  and  bowed  the  knee 
to  him,  crying,  "  Marduk  is  king." 

They  placed  him  upon  a  throne,  and  gave  him  a 
sceptre,  and  a  ring,  and  a  mighty  weapon.  The  mighty 
god  stepped  from  his  throne,  hung  his  bow  and  quiver 
by  his  side,  slung  his  spear  upon  his  belt,  and  grasped 
his  club  in  his  strong  right  hand.  His  body  glowed 
with  burning  flame,  and  he  made  a  vast  net  in  which  to 
trap  Tiamat.  He  set  the  North  Wind  and  the  South 
Wind,  the  East  Wind  and  the  West  Wind  to  watch  that 
no  part  of  Tiamat  should  escape.  He  also  created  even 
greater  tempests  and  wilder  winds  and  hurricanes  than 
Tiamat  had  made.  He  raised  his  mighty  weapon,  the 
thunderbolt,  and  mounted  his  chariot,  the  raging  storm. 
This  was  drawn  by  four  fierce  horses,  rushing  swiftly, 
with  foaming  mouths  and  snapping  teeth.  A  dazzling 
brightness,  like  a  great  crown,  gleamed  about  his  head 
as  he  set  out  to  face  Tiamat  and  her  evil  army. 

So  terrified  were  they  at   Marduk's   approach   that 


29 

their  strength  failed  them  and  they  were  troubled. 
Not  so  with  Tiamat.  She  did  not  even  turn  her  neck, 
but  came  raging  and  foaming  straight  towards  Marduk. 
Then  he  called  loudly  and  boldly  to  her,  and  reproached 
her  with  her  wicked  plans  against  the  gods,  and  offered 
to  face  her  in  single  combat.  This  enraged  her  to  such 
a  dreadful  extent  that  she  shook  with  wrath  and  uttered 
wild  shrieks,  and  tried  to  cast  a  spell  upon  Marduk.  She 
did  not  succeed  in  her  evil  purpose,  however,  for  as  she 
came  rushing  towards  him,  Marduk  caught  her  in  the 
net  and  slew  her.  The  hideous  army  of  monsters  tried 
to  escape,  but  Marduk  caught  them  too,  and  took  away 
their  dreadful  weapons  and  made  them  prisoners. 

The  gods  beheld  the  destruction  of  Tiamat  and  her 
army,  and  rejoiced  exceedingly.  Now,  as  Marduk 
gazed  on  the  dead  dragon's  huge  body,  he  devised  a 
cunning  plan.  He  split  it  in  half  like  a  great  flat  fish, 
and  used  one  half  to  make  the  heavens  and  the  other 
half  to  make  the  earth.  In  the  heavens  he  made 
stations  for  the  great  gods,  and  set  their  images,  the 
stars,  in  the  sky.  He  fixed  the  stars  for  the  different 
months,  and  ordered  that  time  should  be  reckoned  by 
years.  He  caused  the  moon  god  to  shine  forth,  and 
crowned  him  every  month  without  ceasing.  He  filled 
the  heavens  with  splendour,  and  created  the  reeds  and 
plants  upon  the  earth. 

Then  the  gods  met  together  and  praised  the  wondrous 
works  of  Marduk.  They  were  not  quite  satisfied,  how- 
ever. They  complained  that,  though  Marduk  had  over- 
come Tiamat  and  made  the  heavens  and  the  earth  out 
of  her  body,  he  had  not  made  any  people  upon  the  earth, 
to  build  temples  and  worship  the  gods. 

When  Marduk  heard  these  words  of  the  gods,  his 
heart  prompted  him,  and  he  devised  a  cunning  plan. 
He  said  unto  Ea,  "  My  blood  will  I  take  and  bone  will 
I  create,  and  I  will  make  man  that  he  may  dwell  upon 
the  earth  and  worship  the  gods."  Then  he  ordered 
Ea  to  cut  off  his  (Marduk's)  head,  and  to  make  man  by 


3o    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

mingling  the  blood  which  flowed  from  his  body  with 
clay.  This  Ea  did,  and  thus  were  men  made  to  dwell 
upon  the  earth  and  to  worship  the  gods. 

The  great  gods  met  together  and  sang  a  hymn  to 
Marduk,  the  slayer  of  Tiamat,  the  maker  of  heaven  and 
earth,  the  creator  of  men.  They  gave  him  fifty  titles 
of  honour,  calling  him  the  founder  of  sowing,  the 
creator  of  grains  and  plants,  the  one  who  had  caused 
the  green  herb  to  spring,  the  god  of  the  favouring 
breeze.  They  sang  that  he  had  created  the  earth,  and 
made  paths  for  the  stars,  and  cared  for  the  gods  like  a 
shepherd.  They  ordered  men  to  worship  him,  since 
he  had  made  the  firm  earth  for  them,  and  to  pray  to 
him,  for  his  heart  was  wide  and  his  compassion  great. 


MOTHER  ISHTAR1 

AN    ASSYRIAN    STORY   OF    HOW   LOVE   WAS   LOST 

THE  goddess  Ishtar,  whom  the  Assyrians  worshipped, 
was  the  daughter  of  the  Moon.  She  had  lost  someone 
whom  she  dearly  loved,  and  made  up  her  mind  to  search 
for  him  in  the  great  region  where  the  dead  wandered. 
This  region  was  ruled  over  by  Queen  Ninkigal,  and  was 
called  Hades. 

Ishtar  descended  to  the  house  where  all  must  meet, 
upon  the  road  along  which  men  go,  but  cannot  return. 
Ishtar,  however,  was  a  goddess,  and  so  was  not  afraid 
that  she  could  not  return  along  the  road.  She  arrived 
at  the  gate  of  Hades. 

"  O  !  keeper  of  the  entrance,  Open  thy  gate  !  Open 
thy  gate  !  I  say,  that  I  may  enter.  If  thou  dost  not 
open  the  gate,  I  will  break  down  the  door,  and  split 
open  the  portals,  and  will  set  free  the  dwellers  in  Hades 
to  attack  the  people  on  earth." 

Then  the  porter  opened  his  mouth  and  spoke,  and 
said  to  the  goddess  Ishtar,  "  Stay,  Lady ;  do  not  shake 
down  the  door.  I  will  go  and  tell  this  to  Queen 
Ninkigal."  He  entered  the  presence  of  Queen  Ninkigal 
and  said,  "  Thy  sister  Ishtar  threatens  to  break  down 
the  door." 

Queen  Ninkigal  grew  pale  with  rage  like  a  flower  that 
withers,  and  she  trembled  like  the  stem  of  a  reed.  "  I 
will  cure  her  rage,"  quoth  Queen  Ninkigal.  "  Go, 
porter,  open  the  gate  for  her." 

The   porter   went   and   opened   the   gate.     "  Enter, 

1  The  above  story  should  be  compared  with  the  Greek  story  of  Ceres 
and  Persephone. 

31 


32     ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

Lady  ;  it  is  permitted  to  thee  to  enter.  Queen  Ninkigal 
will  come  to  meet  thee." 

The  first  gate  admitted  her,  but  the  keeper  stopped 
her  and  took  the  great  crown  from  off  her  head. 

"  Keeper  !  do  not  take  the  great  crown  from  off  my 
head." 

"  Enter,  Lady  ;  for  the  Queen  of  the  land  demands 
her  jewels." 

The  second  gate  admitted  her,  but  the  keeper  stopped 
her,  and  took  the  ear-rings  from  her  ears. 

"  Keeper  !  do  not  take  the  ear-rings  from  my  ears." 

"  Enter,  Lady ;  the  Queen  of  the  land  demands  her 
jewels." 

The  third  gate  admitted  her,  but  the  keeper  stopped 
her,  and  took  the  precious  stones  from  her  hair. 

"  Keeper !  do  not  take  the  precious  stones  from  my 
hair." 

"  Enter,  Lady  ;  the  Queen  of  the  land  demands  her 
jewels." 

The  fourth  gate  admitted  her,  but  the  keeper  stopped 
her  and  took  the  small,  lovely  gems  from  her  forehead. 

"  Keeper !  do  not  take  the  small,  lovely  gems  from  my 
forehead." 

"  Enter,  Lady ;  for  the  Queen  of  the  land  demands 
her  jewels." 

The  fifth  gate  admitted  her,  but  the  keeper  stopped 
her  and  took  the  emerald  girdle  from  her  waist. 

"  Keeper !  do  not  take  the  emerald  girdle  from  my 
waist." 

"  Enter,  Lady ;  for  the  Queen  of  the  land  demands 
her  jewels." 

The  sixth  gate  admitted  her,  but  the  keeper  stopped 
her  and  took  the  golden  rings  from  her  hands  and 
feet. 

"  Keeper !  do  not  take  the  golden  rings  from  my 
hands  and  feet." 

"  Enter,  Lady ;  for  the  Queen  of  the  land  demands 
her  jewels." 


MOTHER  ISHTAR  33 

The  seventh  gate  admitted  her,  but  the  keeper  stopped 
her  and  took  the  robe  from  her  body. 

Then  when  Mother  Ishtar  had  thus  been  robbed  of 
her  jewels  and  her  robe,  Queen  Ninkigal  came  towards 
her  and  mocked  her,  and  made  fun  of  her  strange 
appearance.  Then  she  ordered  her  servants  to  lay  hands 
on  the  Queen  Ishtar,  and  she  punished  Ishtar  in  various 
cruel  ways  for  having  dared  to  threaten  to  break  the 
doors  of  Queen  Ninkigal's  kingdom. 

But  Ishtar  was  the  goddess  who  brought  love  and 
prosperity  and  happiness  into  the  world.  So  when  she 
was  shut  up  in  Queen  Ninkigal's  kingdom  and  was 
suffering,  the  people  in  the  world  missed  her  very  much. 
She  was  the  goddess,  too,  who  cared  for  all  the  young 
things,  so  when  she  was  away,  there  were  no  more 
children  or  calves,  or  lambs,  or  spring  flowers. 

Black  sorrow  settled  on  the  world,  and  a  weeping 
messenger  pleaded  with  the  Sun  and  the  Moon  to  bring 
Ishtar  back  to  freedom.  Then  they  joined  the  messenger, 
and  went  weeping  to  Hea,  the  great  lord  of  deep 
thoughts. 

Weeping,  they  spoke  to  Hea  and  said,  "  Mother 
Ishtar  went  down  into  the  earth,  into  the  kingdom  of 
Queen  Ninkigal.  Since  then,  she  has  not  risen  again, 
and  there  is  no  love  or  happiness  in  all  the  earth." 

Then  Hea  made  a  figure  of  clay,  and  breathed  life 
into  it.  He  sent  the  man  whom  he  had  thus  made  to 
the  kingdom  of  Hades,  saying,  "  Go  to  Queen  Ninkigal's 
kingdom.  The  seven  gates  will  open  before  thee. 
Queen  Ninkigal  will  forget  her  temper  when  she  sees 
thee.  Frighten  her  with  the  names  of  the  great  gods 
and  with  many  clever  tricks,  and  she  will  set  Mother 
Ishtar  free  again." 

The  man  whom  Hea,  the  Lord  of  Deep  Thoughts, 
had  thus  made,  went  to  Queen  Ninkigal's  kingdom,  and 
the  Queen  agreed  to  set  Mother  Ishtar  free  again.  Her 
servants  poured  the  water  of  life  upon  Ishtar,  and 
healed  her.  Then  the  first  gate  let  her  go  through, 


34    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

and  her  robe  was  given  back  to  her.  The  second  gate 
let  her  through,  and  the  diamonds  from  her  hands 
and  feet  were  given  back  to  her.  The  third  gate  let 
her  through,  and  the  emerald  girdle  from  her  waist  was 
given  back  to  her.  The  fourth  gate  let  her  through, 
and  the  small  lovely  gems  of  her  forehead  were  given 
back  to  her.  The  fifth  gate  let  her  through,  and  the 
precious  stones  of  her  hair  were  given  back  to  her.  The 
sixth  gate  let  her  through,  and  the  ear-rings  of  her  ears 
were  given  back  to  her.  The  seventh  gate  let  her 
through,  and  the  great  crown  was  placed  upon  her  head 
once  more. 

Then  Mother  Ishtar  returned  to  the  earth,  and  love  and 
happiness  and  prosperity  came  back  to  earth.  Children, 
and  calves  and  lambs,  and  spring  flowers  were  seen  every- 
where again,  and  great  thanks  and  praise  were  given  to 
Hea,  the  Lord  of  Deep  Thoughts,  and  to  the  man  whom 
he  had  made. 


A  NEW  ZEALAND  STORY 

LONG  ago  the  Sky  loved  the  Earth,  and  clung  so  closely 
to  her  that  no  ray  of  light  could  peep  between.  Now 
the  children  of  the  Sky  and  the  Earth  grew  weary  of 
being  shut  up  in  the  darkness  between  their  father,  the 
Sky,  and  their  mother,  the  Earth. 

There  were  six  of  these  children,  the  Father  of  Men, 
the  Father  of  Forests  and  all  things  that  dwell  in  them, 
the  Father  of  Winds  and  Storms,  the  Father  of  Wild 
Food,  the  Father  of  Cultivated  Food,  the  Father  of  the 
Fish  and  Reptiles.  Worn  out  by  the  everlasting  dark- 
ness, the  children  discussed  what  they  should  do  with 
the  Sky  and  the  Earth,  whether  they  should  slay  them 
both,  or  whether  they  should  only  part  them  so  that  all 
living  things  might  have  light  and  sunshine,  and  room 
to  grow. 

The  Father  of  Men,  alas !  the  fiercest  and  most  war- 
like of  the  brothers,  said,  "  It  is  well,  let  us  kill  our 
parents,  Sky  and  Earth."  But  the  Father  of  Forests, 
and  of  all  things  that  live  in  forests,  and  of  all  things 
that  are  made  of  wood,  said  gently,  "  Nay,  not  so.  It  is 
better  to  part  them,  and  to  let  the  Heaven  stand  far 
above  us  and  the  Earth  lie  under  our  feet.  Let  the  Sky 
become  a  stranger  to  us,  but  let  the  Earth  remain  close 
to  us  as  our  nursing  mother."  All  the  brothers  agreed 
to  this  plan  except  the  Father  of  the  Winds  and  Storms. 
He  felt  very  grieved  at  the  thought  of  parting  his  father 
from  his  mother. 

Then  the  Father  of  Cultivated  Food  rose  up  and 
tried  to  rend  apart  the  Sky  and  Earth.  He  struggled 
long,  but  failed  to  separate  them.  Then  the  Father  of 
Fish  and  Reptiles  rose  up  and  tried  to  rend  apart  the  Sky 

35 


and  Earth.  He  struggled  long,  but  failed  to  separate 
them.  Then  the  Father  of  Wild  Food  rose  up  and 
struggled,  but  in  vain.  Lo,  then,  the  Father  of  Men 
made  fierce  efforts,  but  he  too  failed.  Then  at  last 
the  Father  of  Forests  slowly  rose.  He  could  do 
nothing  with  his  hands  and  arms,  but  when  he  planted 
his  head  firmly  on  his  mother,  Earth,  and  pushed 
his  feet  against  his  father,  Sky,  slowly,  slowly,  with 
mighty  efforts  and  much  straining  of  his  back  and 
limbs,  he  pressed  the  Earth  down  and  thrust  the 
Sky  far,  far  above  him.  Though  Sky  and  Earth  wept 
and  shrieked  and  groaned,  the  Father  of  Forests 
struggled  on  till  he  had  separated  them  widely  one 
from  another. 

But  the  Father  of  Winds  and  Storms  was  furiously 
angry  that  his  parents  had  been  separated.  Moreover, 
he  dreaded  lest  the  world  should  become  too  fair  and 
beautiful,  so  he  arose,  and  followed  his  father  to  the 
heavens.  To  this  very  day  he  hides  in  the  sheltered 
hollows  of  the  skies  and  sends  forth  fierce  squalls 
and  winds,  and  whirlwinds,  and  dense,  massy,  dark, 
gloomy  clouds,  and  wildly  drifting  clouds,  which 
come  before  a  hurricane,  and  black  clouds  that  bring 
thunder,  and  hurrying  storm  clouds  flying  across  the 
sky. 

He  swept  along  then  in  his  stormy  rage,  in  the  midst 
of  his  army  of  clouds  and  hurricanes.  As  the  breath  of 
his  mouth  smote  upon  the  Children  of  the  Forest,  the 
giant  trees  were  scattered  on  Mother  Earth,  and  decayed 
and  died.  After  having  thus  punished  his  brother,  the 
Father  of  the  Forest,  the  Father  of  Winds  and  Storms 
next  fell  upon  the  seas,  and  lashed  the  ocean  in  his 
wrath.  Then  the  fishes  fled  to  the  depths  of  the  ocean 
for  safety,  while  the  reptiles  fled  and  hid  themselves 
upon  the  shore,  and  both  fish  and  reptiles  have  lived  there 
ever  since. 

This  made  a  quarrel  between  the  Ocean  and  the 
Forest,  for  the  Ocean  was  vexed  that  the  Forest  had 


37 

sheltered  his  children  the  reptiles,  instead  of  making 
them  return  to  their  father,  Ocean.  So  the  Forest 
supplies  the  children  of  men  with  nets  woven  from  his 
fibrous  plants,  so  that  they  may  catch  the  fish  children 
of  the  Ocean.  In  revenge,  the  Ocean  swallows  canoes, 
sweeps  off  lands  and  trees  and  houses  in  mighty  floods, 
and  ever  laps  at  the  shores  of  the  earth,  so  that  the  roots 
of  the  forest  trees  are  loosened,  and  they  are  swept  far 
out  into  the  Ocean. 

Then  the  Father  of  Winds  and  Storms  tried  to  punish 
the  two  other  brothers,  the  Father  of  Wild  Food  and 
the  Father  of  Cultivated  Food.  But  Mother  Earth, 
grieved  for  the  children  of  men,  hid  the  seeds  of  foods 
in  her  bosom  till  the  stormy  season  was  over,  and  the 
Father  of  Winds  sought  in  vain  for  them.  The  Father 
of  Winds  and  Storms  next  sought  to  destroy  the  Father 
of  Men,  but  what  did  he  care  for  his  brother's  anger  I 
He  had  always  been  fierce  and  war-loving.  In  spite 
of  all  his  brother's  buffeting  and  wild  raging,  he  stood 
erect  and  unshaken  upon  his  Mother  Earth,  and  defied 
the  winds  and  storms.  As  the  fury  of  the  storm  died 
away,  anger  rose  in  the  heart  of  the  fierce  Father  of  Men, 
because  his  brothers  had  fled  and  left  him  to  fight  alone. 
So  he  twisted  tough  leaves  into  snares,  and  hung  them 
in  the  forest  and  caught  and  ate  the  children  of  the 
Forest.  He  made  nets  from  the  flax  plant,  and  threw 
them  into  the  water,  and  caught  and  ate  the  children 
of  the  Ocean.  He  scraped  a  wooden  hoe  into  shape, 
and  plaited  a  basket,  and  dug  roots  from  his  Mother 
Earth  and  ate  them,  and  the  poor  plants  of  the  Forest, 
that  had  been  dug  up,  withered  in  the  sun.  Thus  all 
his  brothers,  except  the  Father  of  the  Winds  and 
Storms,  had  to  help  to  provide  food  for  the  Father 
of  Men. 

From  that  day  to  this  the  Sky  has  been  separate 
from  his  wife,  the  Earth.  Yet  they  still  love  one 
another  dearly :  the  soft  warm  sighs  from  her 


38    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

loving    bosom    rise    forever    from    wooded  mountains 

and    valleys,    and    men    call   them    mists.  The    Sky 

mourns    all    night    long,    and    drops    tears  upon    the 

bosom    of   the  earth,   and   men  call  these  tears  dew- 
drops. 


PWANKU 

A   CHINESE   STORY 

IN  the  very  beginning  of  things,  nothing  had  any  shape. 
There  was  only  a  mixed  mass  of  muddy  water  and 
shapeless  rock.  There  was  not  even  sky  or  earth,  or  sun 
or  stars. 

In  the  midst  of  this  confusion  there  was  hatched  the 
first  man,  Pwanku,  much  in  the  same  way  as  a  chick  is 
hatched  out  of  a  shell.  As  soon  as  he  was  born  he  was 
given  a  very  hard  task  indeed  :  nothing  less  than  to  carve 
out  the  heavens  and  the  earth.  He  must  have  been 
very  clever  indeed,  for  the  only  tools  he  had  were  a 
chisel  and  a  mallet,  and  there  was  no  one  to  teach  him 
how  to  use  them  or  to  be  a  help  to  him  in  any  way. 

Fortunately  he  was  not  only  very  big  and  strong,  but 
each  day  he  grew  six  feet  taller.  It  took  him  eighteen 
thousand  years  to  finish  his  task,  so  you  may  try  to  guess 
what  a  fine  big  fellow  he  must  have  been  when  he  died. 
He  must  have  looked  very  strange  indeed,  for  out  of  his 
head  grew  two  huge  horns.  His  great  teeth  jutted  out 
of  his  mouth  like  elephants'  tusks.  His  face  was  wild 
and  fierce,  and  his  giant  body  was  covered  with  thick, 
long  hair. 

Though  there  were  no  other  human  beings  on  the 
earth  for  him  to  talk  to,  he  was  not  quite  alone.  He 
had  three  very  odd  companions,  a  phoenix,  a  dragon, 
and  a  tortoise.  He  started  cheerfully  on  his  mighty 
task,  and  the  three  animals  kept  close  by  his  side.  Soon 
he  had  made  the  beautiful  sky,  and  the  sun,  and  the 
moon,  and  the  stars.  I  am  sure  he  felt  pleased  when  he 
saw  how  lovely  they  were. 

39 


40    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

There  is  a  Chinese  picture  of  him  carving  out  the 
mountain  tops,  holding  in  his  brawny  arms  the  wonderful 
chisel  and  mallet.  Through  the  gap  in  the  rocks,  which 
he  has  just  made,  can  be  seen  the  sky,  with  the  sun, 
moon,  and  stars  all  shining  at  once  on  their  powerful 
creator,  Pwanku.  On  his  right  hand  are  the  phoenix, 
the  dragon,  and  the  tortoise,  and  if  you  look  closely  at 
the  shell  of  the  tortoise,  you  will  see  that  the  artist  has 
drawn  marks  which  look  like  tadpoles.  They  are  not 
tadpoles,  however,  but  Chinese  writing  telling  the  whole 
story  of  the  early  history  of  the  world.  It  seems  a  great 
pity  that  the  tortoise  died,  and  its  shell  was  lost,  for  now 
no  one  knows  the  early  history  of  the  world,  as  it  was  not 
written  anywhere  else  except  on  the  shell  of  the  tortoise 
that  had  watched  Pwanku  making  the  earth. 

At  last  Pwanku's  task  was  nearly  over,  and  he  was  so 
weary  that  he  lay  down  and  died.  His  dead  body, 
grown  to  an  enormous  size  during  these  eighteen 
thousand  years  of  toil,  was  as  useful  as  his  living  one  had 
been.  All  sorts  of  wonderful  changes  took  place  in  it. 
His  head  became  the  mountain  chains,  his  voice  the 
thunder  rolling  among  them.  His  left  eye  became  the 
light  of  the  sun,  and  his  right  eye  that  of  the  moon. 
His  four  limbs  became  the  four  cardinal  points,  north, 
south,  east,  and  west.  His  beard  changed  into  stars, 
his  skin  and  hair  into  herbs  and  trees,  whilst  his  breath 
became  the  clouds  and  winds.  From  his  teeth  and 
bones  were  formed  the  rocks  and  metals,  whilst  the 
marrow  of  his  bones  crystallized  into  beautiful  jewels. 
The  sweat  that  had  poured  from  him  as  he  wielded  his 
mighty  tools,  fell  upon  the  earth  as  rain.  His  blood 
flowed  in  the  valleys  as  the  streams  and  rivers.  The 
fertile  fields  were  formed  from  his  flesh,  and  all  the 
little  hills  from  his  muscles. 

The  funniest  thing  that  happened,  however,  was  that 
the  tiny  insects  crawling  about  his  body  became  the 
first  men  and  women  upon  the  earth. 


A  HINDU  STORY  OF  THE  CREATION 

IN  the  beginning  this  world  did  not  exist,  but  everything 
lay  in  the  darkness  that  falls  on  those  who  sleep.  At 
last  came  the  moment  of  awakening.  The  Great 
Power  who  cannot  be  seen  or  heard  or  felt,  who  is 
eternal,  and  who  is  the  soul  of  the  world  and  all  the  life 
upon  it,  determined  to  create  the  world  from  his 
thoughts. 

He  first  willed  that  the  great  waters  should  appear. 
Upon  the  waters  he  willed  that  there  should  be  a  golden 
egg  which  shone  like  the  brightest  of  the  stars  of  the 
morning.  Within  the  egg  was  the  beginning  of  all  the 
life  in  the  world,  and  from  it  there  came  forth  Brahma, 
the  Lord  of  all  the  Stars. 

Brahma  rested  in  the  golden  egg  for  a  year  of  the 
gods — which  is  longer  than  an  age  of  men — and  did 
nothing  but  think.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  willed 
that  the  egg  should  break  into  two  parts,  from  which 
the  sky  and  the  earth  were  formed,  while  the  space 
between  them  became  the  air,  which  is  the  storehouse 
of  all  the  refreshing  showers. 

He  then  made  the  mind,  and  gave  it  power  to  rule 
the  senses.  He  made  all  living  creatures,  and  gave  to 
each  of  them  their  special  work  in  the  world.  He  created 
the  gods.  He  made  time,  and  divided  it  into  days  and 
months  and  years.  The  stars,  the  seas,  the  rivers,  the 
mountains,  the  valleys,  and  the  plains  were  all  made  by 
him. 

He  gave  to  men  the  power  to  choose  good  and  evil, 
and  to  all  creatures  that  breathe  he  gave  the  power  to 
feel  pain  and  pleasure. 

Brahma,  the  Lord  of  Creation,  looked  upon  the  men' 


42    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

whom  he  had  created,  and  said  to  them,  "  What  shall 
be  your  tasks  ?  " 

They  replied,  "  We  are  not  our  own  masters,  O 
Lord  :  command  what  we  shall  undertake." 

Then  Brahma  said  that  the  first  set  of  men  whom 
he  had  created  should  be  priests,  and  told  them  to 
study  the  Sacred  Books  of  India.  These  Sacred  Books 
Brahma  had  drawn  out  of  fire,  and  air,  and  sun.  This 
first  set  of  men  are  the  caste  of  priests  in  India  called 
Brahmans.  The  next  set  of  men  he  ordered  to  be 
soldiers,  and  to  protect  all  other  men  from  their 
enemies.  They  are  the  caste  of  Kshatriyas  or  soldiers. 
The  next  set  he  ordered  to  buy  and  sell,  to  till  the 
ground,  and  to  look  after  the  cattle.  They  are  the 
caste  of  the  Vaisyas.  The  fourth  set  were  to  be 
slaves  and  servants  of  the  other  three.  They  are  the 
Sudras. 

As  men  had  been  made  subject  to  pain  and  suffering 
by  Brahma,  they  were  forced  to  build  houses  to  shelter 
in  when  the  rains  and  the  heat  and  the  cold  were  too 
much  for  them.  They  also  had  to  build  cities  in  which 
they  could  take  refuge  from  their  enemies.  At  last 
there  came  a  time  when  their  food  failed  them.  In 
great  distress,  and  worn  out  by  long  hunger,  they 
called  upon  Brahma.  He  at  once  drew  forth  from  the 
earth  very  many  different  sorts  of  seed,  which  he  gave 
to  men  so  that  they  might  sow  them,  and  reap  harvests 
from  which  to  satisfy  their  hunger. 

Many  years  afterwards  a  worshipper  of  Brahma, 
named  Manu,  was  seated  by  a  stream  thinking  upon 
Brahma,  the  Lord  of  All.  To  him  there  swam  a  fish, 
who  asked  to  be  saved  from  the  stream.  Manu  took  the 
fish  and  put  it  in  a  jar.  Soon,  however,  the  fish  grew 
so  very  large  that  the  jar  would  not  hold  it.  Then  Manu 
threw  it  into  a  pond.  Here  again  the  fish  went  on 
growing,  so  that  it  was  at  last  too  large  even  for  the 
pond.  Then  it  called  to  Manu,  and  said,  "  Bring  me, 
O  Holy  Man,  to  Ganges,  the  Ocean's  Beloved  Queen. 


A  HINDU  STORY  OF  THE  CREATION     43 

In  her  I  shall  dwell."  Then  Manu  took  the  fish  and 
threw  it  into  the  Ganges. 

There  the  fish  continued  to  grow,  so  that  at  last 
it  was  too  great  even  for  the  wide  river.  Then  Manu 
brought  it  to  the  ocean  and  threw  it  in.  As  soon  as 
Manu  had  done  this,  the  fish  told  him  that  a  great  flood 
was  coming  upon  the  earth.  He  added,  "  Thou  must 
cause  a  strong  ship  to  be  built  and  a  cable  to  be  fastened 
to  it.  Then  take  all  manner  of  seeds  with  thee,  and 
go  on  board  with  seven  wise  men,  and  wait  for  me  to 
come." 

Manu  did  as  he  was  told,  and,  taking  all  the  seeds, 
floated  on  the  billowy  sea  in  the  beautiful  ship,  with 
the  seven  wise  men.  Soon  the  fish  swam  up  to  the  ship, 
and  the  cable  of  the  ship  was  fastened  to  the  horn  of  the 
fish.  The  fish,  being  thus  fastened  to  the  ship,  drew  it 
very  rapidly  over  the  salty  waters,  and  carried  its  crew 
over  the  ocean,  whose  waves  danced  wildly  and  whose 
waters  thundered  loudly. 

Tossed  by  the  raging  winds,  the  ship  whirled  wildly 
on  the  waters.  Soon  the  waters  covered  everything 
except  the  ship  and  the  mighty  fish  that  drew  it.  For 
many  years,  the  unwearied  fish  drew  the  ship  through 
the  heaving  mass  of  waters.  At  length,  however,  it 
brought  the  vessel  to  the  highest  peak  of  the  Himalaya. 
Here  it  ordered  the  companions  of  Manu  to  fasten  the 
ship  without  delay  to  the  mountain  peak. 

Then  the  fish  revealed  himself  as  Brahma,  Lord  of 
All,  and  ordered  Manu  to  create  anew  all  living  beings, 
gods  and  men,  the  world  and  all  things  in  it,  both 
movable  and  immovable. 


HOW  GANGES  CAME  TO  EARTH 

A    HINDU    STORY 

LONG  ago  the  great  river  Ganges  proudly  rolled  over 
the  plains  of  heaven,  and  scorned  to  descend  to  earth. 
At  that  time  a  great  misfortune  fell  upon  Sagar,  King 
of  India.  His  sons  were  searching  for  a  horse  that 
should  be  beautiful  enough  for  him  to  sacrifice  to  the 
gods. 

So  eager  were  they  that  they  did  not  notice  a  saint 
who  was  praying,  and  rudely  broke  in  upon  his  prayers 
and  disturbed  them. 

In  order  to  punish  them  for  this  sin,  they  were  told 
that  unless  their  ashes  could  be  washed  by  the  waters 
of  the  Ganges,  they  should  never  enter  heaven.  As  the 
river  was  in  heaven  and  not  on  earth,  there  seemed  no 
way  for  Sagar  to  reach  it  and  obtain  the  water  to  wash 
his  sons'  ashes.  So  he  prayed  Siva,  the  mighty  Lord  of 
Heaven,  to  order  the  Ganges  to  come  down  to  earth. 

He  not  only  prayed,  but  he  lived  a  very  hard  life, 
denying  himself  all  comforts  and  enduring  many  hard- 
ships in  order  to  persuade  Siva  to  grant  his  prayer. 

At  last  he  died,  but  his  son,  who  had  not  been  with  his 
careless  brothers  when  they  disturbed  the  saint,  continued 
to  pray  to  Siva,  and  to  live  just  as  saintly  a  life  as  his 
father  had  done.  It  was  no  good,  for  Siva's  heart  was 
still  hard.  Then  the  son  of  Sagar  died,  and  his  grand- 
son came  to  the  throne.  He  too,  prayed  to  Siva,  and 
lived  in  the  same  way  as  his  father  and  grandfather  had 
done.  Alas !  it  was  all  in  vain,  for  he  too  died,  and  the 
Ganges  still  remained  in  heaven. 

Then  Sagar's  great  grandson  took  up  the  task,  and 

44 


HOW  GANGES  CAME  TO  EARTH         45 

his  prayers  and  his  saintly  life  touched  Siva's  heart, 
and  he  ordered  the  Ganges  to  leave  the  plains  of  heaven 
and  descend  to  earth. 

As  you  can  guess,  this  did  not  please  the  river  at  all. 
In  fact  she  was  so  very  angry  that  she  made  up  her 
mind  to  come  down  with  such  mighty  force  as  to  wash 
away  the  earth,  and  even  to  wash  away  great  Siva  too. 

Gathering  together  all  her  waters,  she  hurled  the 
mighty,  raging  torrent  at  Siva.  So  much  mightier  was 
he,  however,  that  he  caught  the  angry  river  on  his  giant 
head,  where  the  hair  grew  thick  and  tall  as  the  trees  in 
the  forests  on  Himalaya's  slopes. 

Here  the  raging  Ganges  rushed  wildly  about,  trying  in 
vain  to  find  some  way  of  escape,  and  here  she  stayed  for 
many  a  year  till  her  pride  was  quite  tamed. 

Then  at  last  Siva  once  more  bade  Ganges  descend  to 
earth.  This  time  she  was  quite  pleased  to  obey,  for 
she  was  weary  of  wandering  about  among  Siva's  hair. 

With  a  deafening  roar,  her  waters  poured  down  upon 
the  solid  rock  with  such  great  force  that  the  very  earth 
shook  beneath  the  blow.  Picture  what  a  pretty  sight  it 
must  have  been  to  see  the  waters  sparkling  with  all  the 
colours  of  the  rainbow,  as  they  came  falling  through 
the  air.  White  clouds  of  foam  and  silvery  spray  were 
tossed  in  every  direction,  and  the  light  shone  and 
sparkled  on  the  gleaming  scales  of  the  fishes  as  they  too 
came  tumbling  down  amidst  the  waters. 

Kings  and  peoples,  and  even  gods  in  their  shining 
cars,  came  to  see  the  wondrous  sight.  Soon  the  river 
became  calm  and  quiet,  and  flowed  proudly  and  steadily 
over  the  sandy  plain  to  the  sea. 

Then  Sagar's  great-grandson  brought  the  ashes  of 
Sagar's  sons  to  the  side  of  the  stream,  and  bathed  them 
in  its  waters.  So  Sagar's  sons  entered  heaven  at  last, 
and  Sagar's  great  grandson  gave  praise  and  thanks  to 
mighty  Siva. 


A  WEST  AFRICAN  STORY  OF  THE  CREATION » 

"  Brothers,  hear  a  tale  !  "     "  Good,  let  it  come  !  " 

IN  that  part  of  Africa  which  lies  along  the  Gold  Coast, 
the  people  call  their  god  Odumakuma.  In  the  very 
beginning  of  things  Odumakuma  decided  that  men  and 
animals  ought  to  be  put  into  the  world.  So  he  sent 
his  chief  craftsman,  who  was  named  Mbusoo,  into  the 
world,  and  ordered  him  to  make  ready  the  bodies  of  two 
dozen  men  and  two  dozen  beasts. 

Now  Mbusoo  found  that  it  took  him  very  much  longer 
to  make  a  man  than  to  make  a  beast,  and  as  he  had  been 
rather  lazy  over  his  task,  he  had  not  enough  time  to 
create  the  men  and  beasts  properly,  as  Odumakuma 
had  ordered  him  to  do.  So  in  order  to  save  time  and 
trouble,  the  lazy  fellow  made  one  dozen  men  and  then 
made  three  dozen  beasts.  He  hoped  that  Odumakuma 
would  not  notice  that  the  four  dozen  was  not  equally 
divided  between  men  and  animals. 

In  the  meantime,  Odumakuma  grew  very  troubled 
at  Mbusoo's  long  delay  in  carrying  out  his  task,  and  sent 
for  Ifu,  his  black  monkey  messenger.  He  ordered  Ifu 
to  go  and  enquire  why  Mbusoo  had  not  completed  his 
task.  Ifu  started  off  gaily,  meaning  to  do  his  errand 
properly,  but  he  was  always  fond  of  fun,  and  soon  forgot 
all  about  his  message  to  Mbusoo,  and  began  to  play  about 
and  dance  the  war  dance.  He  enjoyed  this  so  much 
that  he  just  went  on  dancing  and  playing,  and  neither 
went  on  to  Mbusoo  nor  back  to  Odumakuma. 

1  These  two  West  African  stories  are  adapted  from  the  original 
native  MSS.  which  Professor  W.  H.  Barker,  of  University  College, 
Southampton,  obtained  when  he  was  in  West  Africa,  and  which  he  very 
kindly  placed  at  my  disposal. 

46 


PLATE  II 

THE  SACRED  CROCODILE  AT  THE  VILLAGE  OF  MUSAWA,  NIGERIA 

(This  crocodile  has  a  ring  through  its  nose,  and  is  said  to  be 
two  hundred  years  old) 


WEST  AFRICAN  STORY  OF  CREATION    47 

At  last,  Odumakuma  decided  to  set  out  himself  in 
search  of  both  Mbusoo  and  Ifu.  He  soon  overtook  the 
latter  playing  about  and  dancing  the  war  dance.  "  Oho, 
Black  Monkey,"  said  he,  "  how  is  it  that  I  find  you 
dancing  about  here  instead  of  taking  my  message  to 
Mbusoo  ? " 

Ifu  was  quite  overcome  with  shame  when  he  saw  his 
lord,  and  hung  down  his  head  and  made  no  reply. 
Presently,  however,  he  began  to  beg  for  pardon,  and 
asked  to  be  allowed  to  go  with  Odumakuma  to  find 
Mbusoo.  When  Odumakuma  forgave  him,  and  said  he 
might  come  with  him,  Ifu  the  impudent  actually  asked 
that  Odumakuma  would  make  his  name  to  be  remembered 
among  all  the  nations  that  were  going  to  be  created. 

Then  Odumakuma  and  Ifu  went  together  to  find 
Mbusoo,  so  that  Odumakuma  might  see  the  men  and 
animals  that  Mbusoo  had  made,  and  bless  them.  On 
his  arrival  Mbusoo  greeted  him  warmly  and  cheerfully, 
and  brought  out  the  men  and  animals  that  he  had  made, 
and  laid  his  works  before  his  lord.  Odumakuma 
examined  them  very  carefully,  and  soon  found  that 
instead  of  two  dozen  men,  Mbusoo  had  only  made  one 
dozen,  while  he  had  made  three  dozen  animals  instead 
of  two.  He  therefore  said  to  Mbusoo,  "  Are  these 
all  the  men  you  have  created  ?  "  and  Mbusoo  answered 
humbly,  "  Yes,  my  lord,  those  are  all  I  made."  After 
that,  Odumakuma  took  a  seat  and  ordered  Mbusoo,  his 
chief  craftsman,  to  bring  all  the  lifeless  creatures  he 
had  made  to  him  to  be  made  perfect  and  living. 
Mbusoo  hastily  did  as  he  was  told,  and  presented  his 
works  to  his  lord.  Odumakuma  then,  to  make  them 
perfect  and  finish  the  task  of  creation  by  making 
them  live,  took  a  living  leaf  in  his  right  hand,  and, 
rubbing  it  between  his  palms,  dropped  the  sap  on  the 
eyes  of  the  dozen  men,  and  breathed  upon  their  faces. 
Immediately,  they  all  came  to  life,  rose  up  and  then  sat 
down. 

Odumakuma  then  turned  to  the  left  and  plucked  a 


48    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

living  leaf  with  his  left  hand,  and  rubbing  it  between 
his  palms,  dropped  the  sap  upon  the  eyes  of  the  three 
dozen  brutes.  They  at  once  jumped  up  and  began  to 
run  away  to  the  woods.  Mbusoo  became  much  alarmed 
when  he  saw  the  brutes  running  away  into  the  woods, 
and  begged  his  lord  to  change  some  of  them  into  men. 
Odumakuma  replied  that  if  Mbusoo  could  catch  any  of 
them,  he  would  change  those  that  he  caught  into  men. 
Mbusoo  promptly  began  running  after  the  brutes  and 
caught  as  many  as  he  could.  Then  Odumakuma  plucked 
a  living  leaf  with  his  right  hand,  and,  rubbing  it  between 
his  palms,  dropped  the  sap  on  the  eyes  of  the  brutes,  and 
breathed  upon  their  faces.  At  once  all  these  brutes  be- 
came living  men,  who  joined  the  dozen  men  on  the  right. 
Then,  and  not  till  then,  the  mixed  creatures  scattered 
in  pairs,  and  their  children  became  the  nations  of  the 
world.  Odumakuma  did  not  forget  the  request  of  his 
black  monkey  messenger,  for  Ifu's  name  is  never  missed 
in  the  names  of  the  nations.  Thus  in  the  African 
language  the  word  for  Europeans  is  Abrofu  ;  for  Ashantis, 
Ashantifu  ;  for  Africans,  Ebibifu,  and  so  on. 

This  laziness  of  Mbusoo  had  another  very  sad  result, 
for  it  made  the  men  who  were  descended  from  brutes 
changed  into  men  have  beautiful  human  bodies,  but  the 
cruel  minds  of  brutes,  and  that  is  why  there  are  bad  men 
in  every  nation  in  the  world.  Perhaps  it  is  why,  when 
men  quarrel,  they  call  one  another  brute,  pig,  donkey, 
ass,  goose,  and  such  names. 


THE  SUN,  THE  MOON,  AND  THE  STARS 


"  Brothers,  hear  a  tale  ! "     "  Good,  let  it  come  !  " 

ONCE  upon  a  time  there  was  a  great  scarcity  of  fish  in 
the  world,  and  people  became  very  hungry.  Very  early 
in  the  morning  Kweku  Tsi  and  his  father,  Kweku  Anansi, 
went  six  miles  into  the  deep,  dark  forest  to  hunt  for  food. 
By  mid-day  Kweku  had  caught  a  fine  musk  deer,  which 
he  took  and  showed  to  his  father,  Kweku  Anansi. 
Anansi  was  very  pleased  and  told  his  son  to  wait  under 
a  certain  large  tree  till  he  came  back.  He  then  went 
off  to  the  deepest  part  of  the  forest.  Kweku  Tsi  waited 
an  hour  beside  the  tree,  but,  as  his  father  did  not 
come  back,  he  called  with  a  loud,  long  voice,  "  My 

fa ther."     A   demon   with   five  heads,   who   was 

prowling  about  in  the  forest  looking  for  human  beings 
whom  he  might  eat,  heard  the  call,  and  answered  in  the 

same  loud  voice,  "  Ye s."     He  then  made  his  way 

towards  the  tree.  Kweku  Tsi  was  terribly  frightened 
when  he  saw  the  demon  coming  towards  him  with  a 
big  stick  in  his  hand.  He  ran  and  hid  in  a  hollow  in  a 
tree.  The  five-headed  demon  was  very  angry  when  he 
saw  no  man,  but  only  a  musk  deer.  He  said  fiercely, 
"  Deer,  you  called  me."  As  the  deer  did  not  answer, 
the  demon  beat  it  with  a  stick  for  some  time,  and  then 
went  away. 

Kweku  Tsi  came  out  trembling  soon  after  the  demon 

1  Permission  to  print  this  version  has   been  kindly  given  by  Prof. 
W.   H.    Barker,   whose   book,   "West   African    Folk   Tales/'    8s.   6d., 
published  by  Messrs  Harrap,  is  invaluable  as  a  source  of  African  tales. 
D  49 


50    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

was  gone,  but  as  his  father  still  did  not  come,  he  lifted 

up  his  voice  once  more  and  called,  "  My  fa ther." 

At  once  the  demon  came  hurrying  back  to  beat  the  dead 
deer  till  all  its  bones  were  broken.  Kweku  Tsi  hid  as 
before  in  the  hollow  of  the  tree,  and  came  out  when 
the  demon  was  gone.  This  time  he  didn't  dare  to  call 
his  father,  but  sat  under  the  tree  trembling  and  glancing 
fearfully  around  him.  When  Anansi  came  at  last  and  saw 
the  deer  beaten  to  pieces,  he  stood  speechless  with  anger 
for  some  time.  Then  he  asked  his  son  who  had  dared 
to  do  such  a  thing.  Kweku  Tsi  told  his  father  all  about 
the  demon  with  five  heads,  but  Anansi  did  not  believe 
a  word  of  the  story.  In  fact,  he  ordered  his  son  to  call 

"  My  fa ther  "  again,  to  see  if  the  demon  would 

come  again.  Kweku  Tsi  was  much  too  frightened  to  do 
it  at  first,  but  presently  he  yielded  and  called,  "  My 

fa ther,"  and  then  ran  and  hid  himself  in  the 

hollow  of  the  tree.  Up  came  the  demon  in  a  fine  rage. 
He  had  five  long  faces  on  a  single  neck,  and  two  of  his 
heads  glowed  like  fire.  The  eyes  of  the  middle  head 
were  so  very  strong  that  they  could  see  into  the  distance 
for  millions  of  miles.  When  he  saw  Anansi  he  said, 
"  Why  did  you  call  me  ?  "  Anansi  replied,  "  It  was 
not  I  who  called  you.  It  was  your  grandson,  who  is 
hidden  in  the  hollow  of  the  tree." 

Upon  this  poor  Kweku  Tsi  came  trembling  out  of  his 
hiding  place.  You  may  guess  how  pleased  the  demon 
was  to  get  two  human  beings  so  easily. 

He  ordered  them  to  pick  up  the  deer  and  carry  it  to 
his  country  for  him.  They  then  started.  But  the 
demon  could  only  walk  quickly,  and  Kweku  Tsi  could 
only  walk  slowly,  so  the  demon  soon  left  them  behind. 
As  soon  as  they  had  lost  sight  of  him,  Kweku  Tsi  said  to 
his  father,  "  Let  us  run  away,"  but  Anansi  at  once 

called  out,  "  De mon,  your  grandson  wants  to 

run  away."  The  demon  called  back,  "  Tell  him  if 
he  doesn't  want  to  die  at  once,  he  had  better  not  run 
away."  Every  time  Kweku  Tsi  asked  his  father  to  run 


THE  SUN,  THE  MOON,  AND  THE  STARS    51 

away,  his  father  called  out  to  the  demon,  and  the  demon 
said  just  the  very  same  words. 

Towards  evening  they  came  to  the  demon's  country, 
and  saw  a  great  crowd  of  men,  women,  and  children, 
all  wearing  black  clothes.  One  of  them  told  Kweku 
Tsi  that  they  were  all  dressed  in  black  because  the  demon 
had  cast  a  spell  on  them,  so  that  they  could  not  run  back 
to  their  homes.  He  said  that  each  day  the  demon 
made  one  of  them  wear  a  white  cloth.  Then  when  he 
came  along  at  night  he  found  the  one  with  the  white 
cloth,  and  ate  him  for  supper.  That  very  day,  when 
the  demon  looked  at  his  captives,  he  gave  both  Anansi 
and  his  son  a  white  cloth  to  wear.  In  the  night,  how- 
ever, Kweku  Tsi  was  clever  enough  to  change  them  for 
two  black  ones,  and  so  they  both  escaped  being  eaten. 

This  happened  for  four  nights,  and  on  the  fifth  the 
demon  took  leave  of  his  servant,  the  White  Cock,  and 
set  off  to  try  to  catch  more  men.  Now  the  White 
Cock  had  orders  to  crow  loudly  and  call  back  the  demon 
if  anything  wrong  happened.  Fortunately  Kweku  Tsi 
knew  that  if  seed  was  thrown  on  the  ground  before  the 
White  Cock,  it  would  not  crow  till  it  had  eaten  every 
grain  of  the  seed.  So  Kweku  Tsi  threw  a  whole  bag  of 
seed  on  the  ground  before  the  White  Cock,  and  then 
began  to  talk  over  plans  for  getting  away.  This  was  the 
plan  he  made. 

The  spinners  were  to  spin  a  long  cord  and  make  a 
rope-ladder,  which  he  would  throw  to  his  great-great- 
grandfather, the  Big  Star,  to  hold.  Then  they  would 
all  go  up  the  rope  ladder  together  and  be  saved.  At  the 
end  of  the  month  the  rope  was  ready.  Then  Kweku 
Tsi  ordered  them  to  kill  all  the  demon's  cattle  and  eat 
their  last  bit  of  food,  saying  that  he  would  find  food  for 
them  as  soon  as  they  had  got  safely  away.  He  also  told 
them  to  take  all  the  bones  of  the  cattle  in  a  bag. 

Then  he  threw  forty  bags  of  seed  on  the  ground  before 
the  White  Cock.  While  the  Cock  was  eating  this,  all 
the  captives  had  a  great  feast,  and  brought  the  bones  to 


52    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

Kweku  Tsi.  He  then  offered  up  a  prayer  to  his  great- 
great-grandfather,  the  Big  Star,  and  threw  up  the  rope 
to  him.  The  Big  Star  caught  it  at  once,  and  all  the 
people  climbed  up  the  rope,  leaving  only  Kweku  Tsi 
and  his  father.  Then  Anansi  climbed  up  and  left 
Kweku  Tsi  last  of  all. 

The  Cock  was  still  busy  eating  the  seed,  but  the  middle 
head  of  the  demon,  which  had  such  powerful  eyes, 
chanced  to  see  the  other  end  of  the  rope  and  the 
captives  far  above  him.  He  hurried  homewards  and 
reached  the  place  just  when  Kweku  Tsi  was  beginning 
to  climb  the  ladder.  Kweku  Tsi  began  hurrying  up 
the  ladder,  carrying  the  bag  of  bones  and  the  demon's 
fiddle.  The  demon  began  climbing  after  him,  and  soon 
reached  Kweku.  Kweku  threw  him  a  bone,  and  as 
the  demon  was  very  hungry,  he  stopped  to  eat  it,  and 
every  time  he  came  near,  Kweku  Tsi  threw  him  another 
bone  till  the  bag  was  quite  empty.  Then  Kweku 
played  a  tune  upon  the  fiddle,  and  the  demon  had  to 
go  down  and  dance.  When  Kweku  stopped  playing, 
the  demon  climbed  up  again,  and  this  happened  many 
times  until  Kweku  reached  the  Big  Star,  his  great- 
great-grandfather's  country,  when  he  cut  the  ladder, 
and  the  demon  fell  on  his  heads  and  died. 

Then  his  great  -  great  -  grandfather,  the  Big  Star, 
changed  Kweku's  father,  Anansi,  into  the  moon,  the 
captives  into  the  stars,  and  Kweku  Tsi  himself  into  the 
sun.  He  ordered  Kweku  Tsi  to  do  as  he  had  promised, 
and  feed  the  captives,  so  that  is  why  the  moon  and  the 
stars  receive  their  light  from  the  sun. 


AN  ICELANDIC  STORY 

IN  the  beginning  of  things,  there  was  neither  sand  nor 
sea  nor  frozen  waves,  nor  heaven  nor  earth,  nor  grass 
upon  the  earth.  There  was,  however,  a  great  giant 
named  Ymir.  From  his  flesh  the  earth  was  formed. 
The  sea  was  his  blood,  and  the  hills  were  his  bones.  The 
skull  of  the  huge  ice-cold  creature  became  the  vault  of 
heaven.  His  hair  changed  into  trees  and  plants.  His 
eyebrows  became  a  pleasant  dwelling  place  for  men, 
whilst  his  brains  became  the  heavy  clouds  which  drift 
across  the  sky. 

The  gods  who  brought  about  these  wonderful  changes 
were  named  the  Aesir,  and  they  formed  nine  great 
kingdoms,  three  above  the  earth,  three  upon  the  earth, 
and  three  beneath  the  earth.  The  very  lowest  of  these 
kingdoms  was  a  place  of  everlasting  cold,  and  fog,  and 
mist,  and  it  was  a  dreadful  punishment  to  be  sent  there. 

Growing  under  and  through  and  above  and  around 
these  nine  kingdoms  was  the  great  ash  tree  named 
Yggdrasil.  From  its  branches  fell  the  gentle  dews  that 
made  the  valleys  fertile.  Its  three  roots  had  grown  very 
far  back  in  the  dim  past.  Under  one  root  dwelt  the 
goddess  of  death;  under  another  lived  the  first  giants; 
and  mankind  dwelt  under  the  third.  As  soon  as  the 
Aesir  had  made  the  noble  earth  and  the  great  vault  of 
the  heaven,  the  sun  shone  from  the  south  over  the  rocks, 
and  the  earth  became  covered  with  delicate  green  herbs. 
But  the  sun  and  the  moon  did  not  know  their  powers, 
nor  did  the  stars  know  their  places  in  the  heavens.  So 
the  Aesir  met  together  in  council  by  the  ash  tree 
Yggdrasil  and  fixed  how  the  sun  and  the  moon  were  to 
shine,  so  as  to  enable  men  to  reckon  in  days  and  months 

53 


54    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

and  years.  They  created  two  beautiful  horses,  one  to 
draw  the  sun  across  the  sky  and  bring  each  day,  and  one 
to  draw  the  night  across  the  sky  and  give  men  time  to 
rest  in  pleasant  sleep.  A  wild  wolf  ran  across  the  sky 
before  the  chariot  of  the  sun,  and  another  wolf  chased 
the  setting  sun  into  its  home  in  the  west. 

At  first  there  were  no  men  and  women  created,  but 
there  was  a  race  of  huge  giants  created  in  a  very  curious 
way.  From  the  lowest  of  the  nine  kingdoms,  the  place 
of  everlasting  cold  and  fog  and  mist,  there  flowed 
poisonous  cold  streams,  and  some  of  the  drops  that  were 
thrown  out  of  these  streams  grew  into  the  form  of  a 
mighty  giant  formed  of  ice.  Then  from  the  south  there 
flew  sparks  of  fire,  which  fell  upon  the  ice  giant  and  gave 
him  life,  and  thus  the  race  of  giants  came  into  being. 
The  Aesir  next  created  the  race  of  dwarfs  out  of  the 
rocks  of  the  earth.  One  of  these  dwarfs  was  the  god  of 
sleep,  and  he  and  the  sun  god  never  got  on  together  very 
well.  Then  the  three  greatest  of  the  Aesir,  among 
whom  was  the  god  Odin,  created  a  man  named  Ask  and 
a  woman  named  Embla.  These  two  were  in  the  first 
place  mere  pale  shadows,  with  neither  soul  nor  sense, 
nor  power  to  move,  nor  goodly  colour.  One  of  the 
Aesir  gave  them  blood  and  goodly  colour,  another  gave 
sense,  and  then  Odin,  the  greatest  of  the  Aesir,  gave 
them  spirit.  Thus  was  the  race  of  human  beings 
created. 

Now  each  day  the  Aesir  met  in  their  pleasant  home, 
Asgard,  and  tried  their  strength  in  many  ways.  They 
learnt  to  make  and  use  furnaces  to  forge  precious  things 
to  make  fine  tools.  They  built  beautiful  altars  and  high 
temples.  They  played  great  games  together,  and  were 
very  happy  indeed.  They  did  not  care  at  all  that  they 
were  not  rich  in  gold,  for  they  did  not  even  know  of  its 
existence. 

Then  alas !  there  came  to  the  halls  of  the  gods  three 
maidens  from  the  homes  of  the  giants,  who  were  the 
children  of  that  first  giant  who  had  been  made  out  of 


AN  ICELANDIC  STORY  55 

ice  and  fire.  One  of  these  was  named  Gullveig,  and  she 
knew  the  use  of  gold.  Because  she  had  plenty  of  gold, 
she  had  been  able  to  tame  wild  wolves,  to  practise  many 
magic  arts,  and  had  always  been  the  joy  of  evil  people. 
After  she  had  brought  gold  to  the  Aesir,  and  made  them 
realise  how  useful  it  was,  all  sorts  of  dreadful  things 
happened.  Neither  men  nor  giants  nor  Aesir  kept 
their  promises.  For  the  first  time  war  broke  out  upon 
the  earth,  and  the  Aesir  ceased  to  be  happy  any  more. 
They  were  so  grieved  and  troubled  about  all  these 
things  that  they  met  together  to  consider  how  to  punish 
Gullveig  for  her  sin  in  having  introduced  the  use  of 
gold.  They  pierced  her  with  lances,  and  three  times 
they  tried  to  burn  her,  but  every  time  she  escaped,  and 
she  still  lives.  There  is  no  doubt  about  that,  for  to 
this  day  men  and  women  still  break  their  promises,  and 
fight  and  do  many  evil  things  for  the  sake  of  gold. 

Now,  after  all  these  things  there  came  a  very  severe 
and  dreadful  winter,  which  lasted  for  three  years.  At 
the  end  of  the  three  years'  winter  many  terrible  things 
happened.  Wars  broke  out  everywhere ;  a  monster 
wolf  escaped  and  ate  the  sun  and  moon.  The  waves 
of  the  ocean  danced  wildly  and  the  waters  rose  in  flood. 
The  great  tree,  Yggdrasil,  trembled  and  caught  fire, 
and  the  flames  attacked  and  burned  the  heavens  and 
all  the  stars  fell  from  the  sky.  Meanwhile  the  earth 
had  been  drowned  in  the  mighty  rushing  waters.  It 
seemed  in  that  dark  time  as  if  all  things  were  at  an 
end. 

After  a  time,  however,  the  fire  died  down,  the 
waters  of  the  ocean  sank,  and  the  earth  arose  once  more 
in  all  its  green  beauty.  Happily,  the  daughter  of  the 
sun  had  escaped  when  her  mother  was  devoured  by  the 
monstrous  wolf.  She  now  took  her  mother's  place  in 
the  sky,  and  shone  upon  the  green  earth.  The  frozen 
streams  were  unbound,  and  fell  in  pretty  waterfalls 
among  the  rocks.  Birds  flew  in  the  air,  fish  swam  in 
the  streams.  The  fields  brought  forth  great  harvests. 


56    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

Of  all  the  men  and  women  on  earth,  only  two  had 
escaped  in  this  dreadful  time.  They  had  found  a  safe 
corner  in  which  to  hide  themselves,  and  had  been 
fortunate  enough  to  be  able  to  keep  themselves  alive  by 
feeding  on  the  morning  dews.  Their  children  were 
ancestors  of  the  race  of  men.  A  great  hall,  brighter 
than  the  sun,  and  adorned  with  gold  and  jewels,  was 
created  so  that  heroes  who  had  died  in  battle  might 
dwell  there  and  be  happy  for  evermore.  There  they 
could  spend  each  day  in  fighting  and  feasting,  and 
this  seemed  to  them  a  very  pleasant  way  of  passing  the 
years. 


A  STORY  FROM  EGYPT 

THE  earth  god,  Neb,  and  the  sky  goddess,  Nut,  had  two 
children,  who  were  very  different  from  one  another. 
One,  named  Osiris,  was  so  just  and  upright  that  he  was 
called  "  The  Good  Being."  The  other,  named  Seth, 
was  so  evil  that  he  was  called  "  The  Wicked  Being." 

Now  Osiris  became  King  of  Egypt,  and  ruled  it  very 
wisely.  He  taught  the  people  of  Egypt  how  to  use 
their  hands  to  make  pottery  and  jewels,  and  many 
other  beautiful  things.  He  made  many  wise  laws,  and  in 
his  reign  the  Egyptians  learned  to  live  much  better  and 
nobler  lives  than  they  had  ever  done  before. 

Unfortunately,  his  brother  Seth  grew  very  jealous  of 
him,  and  a  dreadful  plan  came  into  his  wicked  mind.  He 
invited  Osiris  to  come  and  dine  with  him,  and  by  a 
trick  persuaded  him  to  enter  a  beautiful  jewelled  coffin, 
which  he  had  prepared.  Then  Seth  and  his  friends 
shut  down  the  lid  very  quickly,  and  threw  the  coffin 
into  the  river  Nile. 

When  Isis,  the  loving  wife  of  Osiris  heard  of  this 
wicked  deed,  she  was  much  frightened  lest  Seth  should 
also  try  to  kill  her  little  son,  Horus.  So  she  took  him  by 
night  to  an  island  in  a  lake  near  Buto.  On  this  island 
was  a  temple,  in  which  dwelt  a  goddess.  She  promised 
to  take  care  of  poor  little  Horus,  and  said  that,  in  order 
to  prevent  any  enemy  reaching  the  island,  she  would 
make  it  float  about  the  lake,  so  that  no  one  could  ever 
be  sure  where  it  was. 

Then  Isis  set  out  to  search  for  her  husband's  body,  so 
as  to  bring  it  back  to  Egypt  and  give  it  proper  burial. 
She  was  sure  that  if  he  were  not  properly  buried,  Osiris 
would  be  very  unhappy  in  the  next  world.  After  a 

57 


58    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

very  long  search,  she  found  the  coffin  in  a  foreign  land, 
and  brought  it  back  to  Egypt.  She  was  very  glad  to 
recover  it,  for  she  loved  her  husband,  and  wanted  him 
to  be  happy  in  the  next  world. 

Not  only  was  she  a  good  wife,  but  she  was  a  very 
loving  mother,  so  as  soon  as  she  could,  she  went  to  the 
island  in  the  lake  to  see  her  little  son  Horus.  Alas ! 
while  she  was  away  the  wicked  Seth  got  possession  of  her 
husband's  body  once  more. 

He  thought  that,  as  Osiris  had  been  such  a  good  king, 
and  was  the  child  of  a  god  and  goddess,  his  body  would 
help  to  make  the  land  fertile,  so  he  buried  fourteen 
pieces  of  it  in  fourteen  different  parts  of  Egypt,  in  order 
to  make  the  land  more  fertile.  Poor  Isis  was  much 
distressed  on  hearing  this  dreadful  news,  and  once  more 
she  set  out  on  her  travels  to  recover  her  husband's  body 
again.  To  her  great  delight  she  found  all  the  fourteen 
pieces  of  her  husband's  body,  and  Osiris  was  buried 
properly  again. 

This  time  her  love  had  a  great  reward,  for  Osiris 
became  king  of  the  cool,  misty  kingdom  which  lies  in  the 
north-western  sky.  This  land  is  watered  by  the  Milky 
Way,  just  as  the  land  of  Egypt  is  watered  by  the  Nile. 
Here  the  great  men  of  the  earth,  who  have  tried  to  be 
good  on  earth,  sit  at  their  ease  in  the  shade,  and  play 
draughts  or  they  row  idly  about  on  the  winding  canals. 

By  and  by,  when  Horus  grew  up,  he  drove  the  wicked 
Seth  out  of  Egypt.  Then  he  and  his  mother,  Isis, 
joined  Osiris  in  the  land  of  souls,  and  when  an  Egyptian 
died,  he  always  tried  to  enter  the  Kingdom  of  Osiris. 
In  order  to  test  if  he  had  been  good  enough  to  deserve 
this  great  reward,  his  heart  was  placed  on  one  scale-pan 
and  an  ostrich  feather  on  the  other.  If  he  had  been 
good  on  earth,  his  heart  was  so  light  that  it  did  not 
weigh  more  than  the  ostrich  feather,  and  he  was  allowed 
to  enter  the  beautiful,  cool,  misty  kingdom  of  Osiris. 

Once  a  year,  in  October,  when  the  seeds  were  being 
planted  in  the  rich  Nile  mud,  the  Egyptians  made  bowls, 


A  STORY  FROM  EGYPT  59 

full  of  Nile  mud,  with  corn  planted  on  it.  These  they 
called  "  Gardens  of  Osiris,"  and  they  are  often  found 
now,  quite  dried  up,  but  with  holes  in  their  sides,  which 
show  where  the  corn  had  sprouted  and  pushed  through 
their  sides  long  ago. 

Sometimes,  too,  they  made  little  clay  figures  of  the 
god,  and  stuffed  them  with  corn.  Then  they  wetted 
them  and  the  corn  sprouted  out  all  over  the  image  of 
the  god.  This  they  did  because  they  hoped  Osiris 
would  help  the  corn,  which  was  their  chief  crop,  to  grow 
well. 

The  Egyptians  loved  Isis  very  much,  because  she  had 
been  so  faithful  and  loving  to  Osiris  and  Horus.  They 
made  pictures  of  her  clasping  her  little  son  in  her  arms, 
and  every  Egyptian  mother  tried  to  be  as  loving  to  her 
husband  and  son  as  Isis  had  been  to  Osiris  and  Horus. 


WHY  PEOPLE  DON'T  LIVE  FOR  EVER  * 

AN    AMERICAN-INDIAN    STORY 

THE  great  god  Olelbis  had  his  home  in  Olelpanti,  high 
above  the  world.  He  made  up  his  mind  to  send  all 
things  down  to  the  earth  to  live.  Not  long  afterwards 
a  great  deal  of  trouble  broke  out  upon  the  earth,  because 
the  flints  and  the  rattlesnakes  and  the  grizzly  bears  were 
not  behaving  as  they  ought  to  do.  So  all  the  people  in 
Olelpanti  met  together  to  discuss  what  they  could  do  for 
the  people  on  the  earth.  They  talked  together  for  five 
nights  and  five  days. 

On  the  sixth  morning,  Olelbis  called  the  two  brothers 
Hus,  and  told  them  he  had  a  great  work  for  them  to  do. 
He  told  them  to  go  to  a  place  called  Stillwater,  where 
the  first  tree  was  growing.  When  they  got  there,  they 
were  to  find  stones  and  pile  them  so  as  to  make  a  road 
from  earth  to  Olelpanti.  Olelbis  told  them  to  make 
the  road  of  very  strong  stone  steps,  each  higher  than 
the  last.  Half  way  on  the  road  to  Olelpanti,  the 
brothers  Hus  were  to  make  'a  place  where  people  could 
spend  the  night,  and  to  put  clean  good  water  there 
for  them. 

Olelbis  then  said,  "  When  you  have  finished  the  whole 
road,  people  will  come  up  out  of  the  earth.  When  they 

1  This  story  and  the  story  of  Tuina  are  adapted  from  Jeremiah 
Curtin's  "  Creation  Myths  of  Primitive  America,"  published  1898  by 
University  Press,  John  Wilson  &  Son,  Cambridge,  U.S.A.  It  forms 
part  of  the  Wintu  Mythology.  The  Wintus  were  a  stock  of  Indians, 
who,  before  the  coming  of  the  white  men,  owned  and  occupied  all  that 
part  of  California  situated  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Sacramento,  from 
its  sources  near  the  foot  of  Mt.  Shasta  to  its  mouth  on  the  northern 
shore  of  San  Francisco  Bay. 

60 


PLATE  III 

A  STONEY  INDIAN 
From  the  Morley  Reservation  near  Calgary,  Canada 


WHY  PEOPLE  DON'T  LIVE  FOR  EVER     61 

grow  old,  they  can  go  back  to  the  beginning  of  the  road 
made  by  you,  and  climb  the  steps.  When  they  get  to 
the  water,  which  you  have  placed  half-way  up,  they 
will  drink  of  it,  rest  one  night,  and  then  go  on  climbing 
up  to  Olelpanti.  I  myself  will  put  two  springs  of 
water  at  this  end,  one  for  them  to  drink  from,  and  one 
for  them  to  bathe  in.  After  old  people  have  bathed  in 
one  spring,  and  drunk  from  the  other,  they  will  grow 
young  again,  and  go  back  to  earth  quite  healthy  and 
strong.  When  they  grow  old  the  second  time  they 
can  climb  the  steps  the  second  time,  and  again  become 
young,  and  thus  they  will  live  for  ever.  When  the 
trees,  which  are  small  now,  grow  large,  there  will  be 
no  branches  except  at  the  top,  the  acorns  on  the 
trees  will  have  no  shells.  They  will  just  be  ready 
to  eat  without  any  husking  or  cracking.  Nobody  will 
need  to  climb,  for  the  nuts  will  fall  down  ready  for 
eating." 

The  two  brothers  set  out  to  go  and  make  the  road. 
One  brought  stones  and  the  other  piled  them  up. 
The  brothers  were  very  strong  and  worked  well,  so 
that  the  steps  soon  reached  the  clouds.  At  this 
point,  there  came  along  an  old  man  named  Sedit. 
He  was  dressed  in  an  otter  skin,  and  had  buckskin 
leggings,  ornamented  with  shells.  Sedit  drew  near  and 
watched  the  brothers  working,  but  they  did  not  speak 
to  him. 

Sedit  was  very  curious,  and  wanted  to  know  what 
the  brothers  were  doing,  but  although  he  asked  them 
many  questions,  they  took  no  notice  at  all  of  him. 
They  just  went  on  working  quietly  and  steadily.  At 
last  Sedit  grew  angry  and  said,  "  If  you  don't  come 
here  and  tell  me  all  about  what  you  are  doing,  I  will 
spoil  your  work." 

This  threat  frightened  the  brothers  Hus,  who  did  not 
want  to  have  the»ir  work  injured.  They  told  Sedit 
that  they  were  working  for  Olelbis,  who  had  sent  them 
down  to  make  the  road. 


62    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

Sedit  began  to  be  very  rude,  and  to  say  that  he  did 
not  care  at  all  for  Olelbis,  and  that  the  brothers  were 
silly  to  work  for  him.  The  brothers  Hus  did  not  like 
this,  and  said  that  they  would  tell  him  why  they 
were  making  the  road.  Then  the  elder  brother  told 
him  of  the  plan  for  keeping  people  young  for  ever, 
and  for  saving  them  trouble  about  the  trees  and  the 
acorns. 

Sedit  listened  and  looked  at  them,  and  then  he  began 
to  sneer.  He  said,  "  Do  you  think  that  is  a  wise  plan  ? 
I  don't.  I  will  tell  you  what  will  happen.  Suppose  an 
old  man  does  go  up  this  road,  and  come  down  young 
again  on  the  other  side,  he  will  only  be  lonely.  Suppose 
an  old  woman  goes  up  and  comes  down  again  young. 
She  will  only  be  alone,  and  it  will  be  very  dull  just  going 
up  old  and  coming  down  young  over  and  over  again. 
They  will  never  have  any  friends,  nor  any  children,  nor 
any  fun  in  the  world.  I  think  it  will  be  very  much  nicer 
too  for  the  trees  to  have  branches  right  down  to  the 
ground,  so  that  men  have  to  climb  them  and  knock  the 
acorns  from  the  top  with  a  long  stick.  I  think  that  it 
is  better  for  men  and  women  to  have  to  husk  the  acorns 
because  then  they  can  throw  the  husks  at  one  another, 
and  have  some  fun.  When  they  have  fun  and  laugh, 
and  are  pleased,  they  will  feel  well.  Besides,  what  are 
the  people  to  eat  if  nothing  dies  ?  Deer  will  not  die, 
fish  will  not  die,  and  people  will  have  nothing  to  eat  but 
acorns.  I  think,  too,  that  it  is  nice  for  a  man  to  have  a 
wife.  The  man  can  catch  the  fish  and  kill  the  deer, 
and  the  woman  can  cook  them,  and  they  can  both  eat 
together.  I  think  it  is  nice  for  old  men  and  women  to 
die,  and  then  new  babies  can  be  born,  and  people  can 
enjoy  the  fun  of  the  babies.  Then  all  the  neighbours 
can  come  and  look  at  the  new  baby  and  say,  "  What  a 
nice  baby."  Then  when  an  old  man  dies,  his  son  can 
take  his  place,  and  when  an  old  woman  dies,  her 
daughter  can  take  her  place.  I  think  that  this  is 
the  right  way.  All  men  and  animals  ought  to  grow 


WHY  PEOPLE  DON'T  LIVE  FOR  EVER     63 

old  and  die  in  this  way.  When  people  fight,  they 
will  use  flint  and  kill  one  another,  and  a  crowd  will 
come  to  see  the  fighting,  and  that  will,  be  a  pleasant 
excitement." 

The  two  brothers  sat  there  and  made  no  answer 
at  all.  "  Well,  my  grandsons,"  said  Sedit,  "  I  know 
that  what  I  tell  you  is  right.  What  do  you  think  ?  " 
The  brothers  said  nothing  at  first.  They  just  sat  and 
thought.  After  a  while  the  elder  looked  at  Sedit  and 
said,  "  I  believe  that  you  are  old  enough  and  ought  to 
know.  I  think  that  you  are  right,  grandfather."  Said 
the  younger,  "  Would  you  like  to  die,  and  be  lying  on 
the  ground,  and  not  rise  any  more  ?  You  want  others 
to  die.  Would  you  like  to  die  yourself  ?  Olelbis  does 
not  want  anything  to  die,  but  you  want  everything 
to  die.  You  want  to  spoil  all  the  work  Olelbis  sent 
us  to  do." 

Then  the  two  brothers  stood  up  and  walked  away. 
Sedit  called  to  them  to  come  back  and  talk  things 
over  again,  but  the  two  brothers  did  not  turn  back. 
They  pulled  out  some  great  stones,  and  the  whole 
road  fell  crashing  to  the  earth.  The  two  brothers 
then  flew  up  higher  and  higher,  until  they  reached 
Olelpanti. 

Sedit  watched  them  flying  higher  and  higher,  until  they 
disappeared.  Then  he  said,  "  I  wish  I  had  not  said  so 
much.  I  wish  I  had  not  said  anything  at  all.  I  am 
sorry.  The  Hus  brothers  said  everything  on  earth  will 
have  to  die  now,  and  asked  me  if  /  wanted  to  die.  What 
am  I  to  do  ?  " 

He  looked  round  and  found  a  plant  with  long,  broad 
leaves,  the  wild  sunflower.  He  found  plenty  of  these 
plants,  and  stripped  the  leaves  from  them.  He  then 
pulled  off  all  his  fine  clothes,  and  stuck  the  leaves  into 
his  body,  and  made  a  long  tail  of  leaves.  Then  he 
thought  to  himself,  "  I  will  fly  up  to  Olelpanti,  and  not 
stay  here  where  people  have  to  die."  He  rose  a  little 
way  in  the  air,  but  the  leaves  began  to  get  dry  and 


64    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

break  one  after  the  other,  and  Sedit  came  whirling 
down  to  the  ground,  and  was  killed.  Olelbis  looked 
down  and  saw  Sedit  falling.  "It  is  his  own  fault," 
said  he,  "  he  is  the  first  to  die,  killed  by  his  own 
words." 


THE  COMING  OF  FLINT  AND  OF  TUINA1 

A    NORTH    AMERICAN    STORY 

LONG  ago  the  chief  of  the  very  first  people  in  the  world 
said  to  them,  "  Sweat  and  swim  to-day,  for  to-morrow 
you  must  go  hunting." 

Well,  the  next  day  they  went  hunting,  but  could  not 
kill  so  much  as  one  deer.  This  was  because  they  had  no 
good  arrow  points ;  their  points  were  just  made  of 
common  stone.  When  they  went  back  to  their  chief, 
Jupka,  that  night  and  told  him  they  had  caught  nothing, 
he  said,  "  There  is  an  old  man  in  the  south  who  kills  a 
great  many  deer.  His  name  is  Kaltsauna.  I  must  bring 
him  up  here  to  show  you  how  he  kills  them." 

Jupka  sent  a  very  swift  messenger  to  the  south  to 
find  Kaltsauna.  The  old  man  was  sitting  inside  the 
door  with  his  legs  crossed,  making  flint  arrow  points. 
The  messenger  stepped  in  quickly  and  surprised  old 
Kaltsauna,  who  at  once  drew  a  flint  knife  from  his  side 
and  made  a  thrust  at  the  intruder. 

"  Stop,  uncle,  you  mustn't  kill  me."  "  Why  do  you 
call  me  uncle,"  said  Kaltsauna,  hiding  his  arrow  points 
quickly.  "  I  have  come  for  you,  uncle.  The  chief 
Jupka  has  sent  me  to  invite  you  to  come  to  our  Round 
Mountain  Place.  We  cannot  kill  deer  with  stone  arrow 

1  This  is  a  Yana  story.  The  Yanas  lived  in  Sacramento  Valley  and 
previous  to  August  1864  numbered  8000.  The  second  week  of  August 
1 864  the  whole  tribe  were  massacred  by  the  white  people,  and  only  a 
scattered  few  escaped  who  happened  to  be  away  at  the  time.  These 
did  not  number  more  than  fifty.  This  hideous  occurrence  was  the 
more  reprehensible  as  the  Yanas  were  a  most  harmless  and  industrious 
tribe,  very  willing  to  work  in  the  fields  for  the  settlers. 

E  65 


66    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

points,  and  we  have  no  other  kind.  The  chief  knows 
that  you  will  kill  deer  all  the  time,  and  wants  you  to 
come  and  show  his  people  how  to  do  it." 

Kaltsauna  rubbed  his  hands  clean  and  got  all  the  flint 
dust  off  them.  Then  he  rolled  his  flints  in  a  skin  very 
carefully.  Next  he  mixed  flint  dust  and  rubbed  it  on 
his  face,  and  made  paint  and  rubbed  that  on  his  face 
too.  He  took  a  sharp  piece  of  flint  and  thrust  it  through 
the  middle  of  his  nose.  He  looked  very  threatening 
and  fierce  now  that  he  was  dressed  for  the  road. 

"  You  go  on  and  tell  Jupka  to  make  a  huge  fire  of  wood, 
and  I  will  come  later  by  myself,"  said  Kaltsauna.  Then 
he  took  his  quiver  of  grizzly  bear  skin  and  his  bows  and 
arrows  of  black  oak.  He  put  flints  under  his  left  arm 
and  took  bows  and  arrows  in  his  right  hand.  Jupka  had 
made  a  huge  fire  of  wood,  and  all  the  people  were 
waiting.  "  He  is  coming,  he  is  coming,"  they  shouted 
when  they  saw  Kaltsauna  in  the  distance.  But  when 
he  came  near,  they  didn't  dare  to  look  at  him.  They 
hung  their  heads.  "  Make  way  for  me.  Make  way.  I 
will  strike  unless  you  give  me  room,"  said  Kaltsauna, 
as  he  came  near  the  crowd  of  people.  "  Spread  out  a 
skin,"  said  Kaltsauna  to  chief  Jupka. 

The  skin  was  spread  and  Kaltsauna  emptied  his  robe- 
ful  of  arrow  points  on  it.  He  sat  down  and  gathered 
each  kind  of  flint  into  a  heap  by  itself.  He  pushed 
the  white  flint  away,  and  ordered  it  to  go  to  Hakamatu, 
and  to  this  day  there  is  plenty  of  white  flint  in 
Hakamatu. 

He  sent  the  blue  flint  east,  and  the  yellow  flint  to  a 
creek  not  far  away,  and  to  the  west  he  sent  flint  with 
fine  black,  blue,  and  white  stripes.  Then  he  put  plenty 
of  flint  in  Round  Mountain  Place  where  Jupka's  people 
were  living,  and  told  them  that  people  would  find 
flints  in  these  places  whenever  they  wanted  them  and 
went  to  look  for  them.  Besides  flints,  Kaltsauna  gave 
each  of  Jupka's  people  a  wedge  made  of  deer  horn  and  a 
piece  of  stone,  and  showed  them  how  to  dress  the  flint 


THE  COMING  OF  FLINT  AND  TUINA     67 

and  to  make  arrow  points.  Then  Kaltsauna  went  back 
home.  On  the  second  day  after  he  had  gone,  Jupka 
called  his  people  together  and  said,  "  Sweat  to-night, 
swim  early  in  the  morning,  and  go  out  on  a  great  hunt 
to-morrow."  They  had  very  different  fortune  on  this 
hunt,  now  that  they  had  their  flint  and  arrow  points, 
for  every  one  of  them  killed  a  deer. 

The  whole  party  returned  to  the  Round  Mountain 
Place  then  with  great  rejoicings.  Jupka  himself  never 
went  out  to  hunt.  He  just  lay  in  the  house  and  told  all 
what  they  were  to  do,  and  showed  them  how  to  do  it. 
He  never  ate  anything  himself,  but  just  smoked  and 
smoked  all  the  time.  When  his  people  came  in  from 
hunting,  they  put  down  before  him  all  the  deer  they 
had  caught.  The  chief  took  his  flint  knife  out,  and  cut 
the  meat  into  pieces  and  roasted  it.  When  it  was 
cooked,  all  the  people  sat  down  and  ate  together,  except 
Jupka.  The  women  prepared  acorns  and  mice.  Jupka 
placed  three  very  large  baskets  of  mice  in  three  different 
places,  and  in  front  of  each  basket  were  people  to  deal 
out  the  mice  to  each  person  that  wanted  them. 

Next  time  they  wanted  to  go  hunting  they  chose  a 
clever  man  to  sing  and  dance  and  dream  about  the  deer, 
and  the  best  place  in  which  to  find  them.  His  name  was 
Ahalamila.  When  evening  came,  Ahalamila  took  his 
pipe  and  made  a  fire.  He  blew  smoke  in  every  direction, 
and  then  put  down  his  pipe.  He  took  fir  leaves  and 
threw  them  on  the  fire.  While  these  were  burning,  he 
sang,  "  A  white  rock,  a  quartz  rock,"  over  and  over 
again,  and  he  put  a  beautiful  white  quartz  rock  on  the 
ground.  On  the  north,  south,  east,  and  west  of  the 
quartz  rock  he  thrust  a  small  twig  of  fir,  and  one  of  blue 
beech,  into  the  ground.  Ahalamila  kept  looking  at  the 
twigs,  which  rose  quickly,  grew  up  and  became  little 
trees.  He  walked  around  them  and  sang,  and  pinched 
off  a  leaf  or  a  bud  from  one  limb  or  another  as  he  walked. 
Soon  the  piece  of  quartz  rock  began  to  move  of  itself, 
and  swelled  and  changed  shape,  until  at  last  it  turned 


68    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

into  a  white  fawn.  Just  at  daybreak  the  white  fawn 
began  to  walk  round  among  the  trees,  and  sniff  as  though 
it  smelt  something. 

Ahalamila  picked  up  the  little  fawn  and  blew  smoke 
from  his  mouth,  blew  it  about  on  all  sides.  Then  he 
put  the  fawn  down  again,  and  it  changed  back  into  a 
piece  of  white  quartz  rock.  Soon  daylight  came,  and 
Ahalamila  stopped  singing. 

"  I  have  finished  now,"  said  he.  "  It  will  be  better  for 
us  to  hunt  in  the  south."  So  the  people  went  hunting 
in  the  south,  because  Ahalamila  had  dreamed  that  they 
would  find  deer  there.  Alas  !  no  deer  were  found,  and 
one  of  the  men  began  to  taunt  Ahalamila  and  to  say 
that  he  could  never  find  deer  however  much  he  sang 
and  danced.  This  angered  Ahalamila,  and  he  answered 
that  the  deer  had  been  in  the  south,  but  the  other  men 
had  frightened  them  away.  On  this  the  people  fell  to 
fighting  fiercely  with  their  new  weapons,  and  many  of 
them  were  killed,  including  poor  Ahalamila.  This  was 
the  first  battle  in  the  world,  and  the  people  who  were 
killed  were  changed  into  rocks,  which  are  to  be  seen 
there  to  this  very  day. 

Now  all  this  time  Jupka  had  been  lying  at  home  in 
the  Round  Mountain  Place.  Presently  he  heard  the 
dreadful  noise  and  shouting.  "  My  people  are  fighting," 
said  he ;  "I  must  stop  the  battle."  Then  he  rushed  out 
towards  the  south  into  the  middle.  "  I  want  both 
sides  to  stop,"  shouted  Jupka.  That  put  an  end  to  the 
battle,  and  all  the  people  followed  Jupka  home.  Next 
morning  they  went  hunting  in  the  north  and  found 
plenty  of  deer,  so  they  didn't  fight  among  themselves. 
The  morning  after  this  hunting  in  the  north,  Jupka 
heard  loud  shouting  in  the  east.  A  great  giant  of  Jupka's 
race  thrust  his  head  above  the  edge  of  the  sky.  This 
person  had  beautiful  feathers  streaming  out  in  every 
direction  from  his  head.  Jupka  had  ordered  him  to 
shout,  and  had  told  him  in  the  morning  that  when  he 
raised  his  head  above  the  edge  of  the  sky  he  was  to  shout. 


THE  COMING  OF  FLINT  AND  TUINA     69 

Jupka  gave  this  person  the  name  Tuina.  Now  Tuina 
had  to  start  from  the  east  on  his  travels  across  the  sky 
every  morning.  A  path  had  been  made  for  him  across 
the  sky  from  east  to  west.  In  order  to  make  himself 
ready  for  his  journey  he  dressed  and  put  on  his  armour, 
and  took  a  very  tiny  dog  and  put  it  under  the  hair  on 
the  top  of  his  head  and  tied  it  there.  Before  he  was 
dressed  and  armed,  and  had  put  the  dog  in  his  hair, 
Tuina  had  no  brightness,  but  when  he  started,  he  filled 
the  whole  world  with  light,  just  as  he  does  now  in  the 
daytime. 

Tuina  went  straight  along  the  road  in  the  sky  from 
east  to  west,  till  he  reached  the  great  water.  When  he 
was  ready  to  plunge  into  the  water,  a  water  grizzly  bear 
was  coming  out  and  saw  him.  Tuina  spread  cut  his 
arms  as  if  they  were  wings,  and  poised  himself  ready  for 
jumping  into  the  water.  "  Tuina  is  coming,"  shouted 
the  grizzly  bears  of  the  water.  "  It  will  be  too  hot 
here  if  he  comes,  so  let  us  go  to  the  high  mountains." 

A  great  crowd  of  water  grizzlies  came  hurrying  out 
of  the  ocean  and  went  away  to  the  high  mountains. 
Tuina  jumped  into  the  water,  and  it  rose  on  all  sides, 
boiled  up,  rolled  over  the  shore,  and  every  kind  of  shell 
of  the  ocean  went  to  land  at  the  time.  Tuina  went  to 
the  very  bottom  of  the  ocean,  deep  under  the  water 
and  under  the  ground,  and  back  again  to  the  east.  He 
was  able  to  do  this  because  long  ago  Jupka  had  turned 
the  earth  bottom  upward,  and  made  a  path  right 
through  it  from  west  to  east  for  Tuina  to  travel  along. 
Jupka  ordered  Tuina  to  go  along  the  path  in  the  sky 
from  east  to  west  every  morning,  and  to  travel  back 
along  the  path  under  the  earth  from  west  to  east  every 
night.  This  he  still  does.  Can  you  guess  who  Tuina 
is,  and  who  the  water  grizzlies  are  ? 


HOW  DEATH  CAME  INTO  THE  WORLD 

A    HINDU    STORY 

A  GREAT  Hindu  king  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  in 
battle  a  grandson  whom  he  dearly  loved.  Filled  with 
grief  and  distress,  he  said  to  his  very  wise  friend, 
Sanjaya,  "  What  is  death  ?  Why  does  death  take  away 
all  living  creatures  ?  O  godlike  one,  tell  me  this !  " 

Sanjaya,  comforting  him,  told  him  this  story,  which 
had  been  told  before  to  a  sorrowing  king. 

Listen,  O  mighty  King !  In  the  beginning,  Brahma 
created  all  things  that  have  life.  As  he  was  the  powerful 
Lord  of  All,  and  was  filled  with  undying  energy,  he  made 
all  living  things  so  well  that  they  showed  no  signs  of 
decay,  but  lived  on  for  ever.  They  increased  to  such 
an  extent  that  the  goddess  Earth  groaned  beneath 
their  weight.  In  her  distress,  she  called  upon  Brahma 
to  lighten  her  burden  by  destroying  the  creatures  that 
lived  upon  her. 

Brahma  wished  to  help  the  goddess  Earth,  but  he 
could  not  think  of  a  way.  As  Earth  continued  to  moan 
and  complain  of  the  weight  upon  her,  Brahma  fell  into 
great  wrath,  and  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lord  Brahma, 
a  mighty  fire  sprang  up,  which  blasted  the  rocks,  burnt 
the  trees,  and  licked  up  the  water  in  the  rivers.  The 
fire  blazed  so  fiercely  that  it  threatened  to  destroy  the 
whole  universe. 

Then  Siva  became  alarmed,  and  appealed  to  Brahma, 
the  Lord  of  all  the  gods,  saying,  "  O  Lord,  thou  hast 
made  all  living  creatures  with  great  care,  and  now  thou 
art  destroying  them.  My  heart  is  filled  with  pity  for 
them.  I  pray  thee  to  spare  them." 

70 


HOW  DEATH  CAME  INTO  THE  WORLD    71 

Brahma  replied  that  he  did  not  wish  to  destroy  the 
universe,  and  that  what  he  had  done  was  for  the  good 
of  the  goddess  Earth,  not  to  bring  evil  upon  living 
creatures.  Then  Siva,  the  Protector  of  all  Living 
Things,  begged  Brahma  not  to  destroy  the  universe  and 
all  living  things. 

Brahma,  hearing  his  words,  became  filled  with  a  desire 
to  do  good  to  all  living  things,  and  shut  up  within 
himself  the  wrath  from  which  the  fire  had  been  kindled. 
But  even  as  he  put  out  the  destroying  fire,  there  was 
born  a  beautiful  woman  with  dark  hair  and  glowing  red 
eyes.  She  stepped  forth  from  the  fire  as  it  died  down, 
and  smiled  upon  Brahma.  Then  Brahma  called  upon 
her  by  the  name  of  Death,  and  asked  her  to  slay  the 
creatures  whom  he  had  made. 

On  hearing  this,  the  lotus-eyed  Death  became  very 
sad  indeed,  and  wept.  The  Lord  of  All  caught  the  tears 
she  shed  in  his  hands.  Then  she  pleaded  with  him  to 
spare  her  this  dreadful  task,  saying  : — "  How  can  I  do 
such  a  cruel  and  evil  act  as  to  take  away  the  dear  life 
breath  from  thy  creatures  ?  Sons  and  friends,  and 
brothers  and  fathers,  are  always  dear.  How,  then,  can 
I  leave  thy  creatures  weeping  in  sorrow  for  them  ?  " 

But  Brahma  told  her  that  to  do  what  he,  the  Lord  of 
all  the  World,  ordered  her  to  do,  was  not  cruel  and 
wicked,  but  was  her  duty.  Then  the  tears  she  had  shed, 
and  which  he  had  caught  in  his  hands,  became  diseases 
whom  Brahma  ordered  to  be  helpmates  to  Death  in 
her  work  of  destroying  all  living  creatures.  Then 
Death  knew  that  she  must  obey  the  Lord  of  All,  and 
went  forth  from  his  presence  weeping  bitterly. 


THE  CHURNING  OF  THE  OCEAN 

A    HINDU    STORY 

SAUTI,  a  Hindu  who  had  wandered  to  many  places, 
visiting  sacred  waters  and  holy  shrines,  came  to  the 
forest  where  dwelt  the  holy  men  who  had  denied  them- 
selves all  the  pleasures  that  other  men  love.  They 
received  Sauti  kindly,  and  bade  him  be  seated.  When 
he  had  recovered  from  his  weariness,  they  begged  him 
to  tell  them  of  all  the  things  he  had  learnt  on  his  many 
travels. 

The  story  of  the  Churning  of  the  Ocean  is  one  that 
Sauti  told  to  Saunaka,  one  of  these  wise  men. 

Sauti  said,  "  O  wise  man,  about  this  time  was  seen 
that  most  beautiful  of  horses,  that  gem  of  steeds  who 
arose  at  the  churning  of  the  Ocean  for  nectar." 

Saunaka  asked,  "  Why  did  the  gods  churn  the  Ocean 
for  nectar  ?  Under  what  circumstances  did  that  best 
of  steeds  appear  ?  " 

Sauti  said,  "  There  is  a  mountain  named  Meru. 
The  rays  of  the  sun  fall  on  its  golden  peaks.  There 
dwell  the  gods,  but  it  is  too  mighty  to  be  approached 
by  sinful  men.  So  high  is  it,  that  its  golden  shining 
peaks  kiss  the  heavens."  The  gods  came  together  upon 
it  to  discuss  how  they  might  recover  a  wonderful  drink 
called  the  Amrit. 

Then  Narayana,  the  spirit  that  moves  upon  the  face 
of  the  waters,  said,  "  O !  ye  gods,  churn  the  Ocean.  By 
churning  the  Ocean  you  will  recover  the  precious  Amrit 
and  also  many  jewels." 

Sauti  said,  "  There  is  a  mountain  called  Mandara. 
It  is  covered  with  herbs  and  trees,  among  which  count- 

72 


THE  CHURNING  OF  THE  OCEAN         73 

less  birds  pour  forth  their  melody."  The  gods  decided 
to  tear  up  the  mighty  Mandara,  and  use  it  as  a  churning 
stick,  but  alas  !  they  could  not  even  so  much  as  shake 
the  huge  rock,  which  defied  all  their  efforts  to  move  it. 
Then  the  gods  came  to  Vishnu  and  Brahma,  and  called 
upon  them  saying,  "  O !  ye  gods,  think  out  some  plan 
so  that  Mandara  may  be  torn  up  for  our  good." 

Sauti  said,  "  Then,  O  wisest  of  men,  Vishnu  came  to 
their  help,  and  the  lotus-eyed  one  laid  this  hard  task  on 
the  mighty  Ananda,  the  Prince  of  Snakes.  Then,  at  the 
bidding  of  Vishnu,  the  mighty  Ananda  tore  up  the  rock, 
and  the  gods  with  Ananda  and  the  rock  came  to  the 
shore  of  the  Ocean,  and  said  to  the  Ocean,  "  O  Ocean, 
we  have  come  to  churn  thy  waters,  and  thus  to  get  the 
wondrous  nectar  Amrit." 

And  the  Ocean  replied,  "  Be  it  so,  only  give  me  a 
share  of  the  Amrit.  I  can  well  bear  the  churning  of  my 
waters  by  the  rock."  Then  the  gods  went  to  the  king 
of  the  tortoises  and  said  to  him,  "  O  Tortoise  King,  thou 
must  hold  the  mighty  Mandara  rock  upon  thy  back. 
The  Tortoise  King  agreed,  and  the  gods  placed  Mandara 
upon  the  back  of  the  tortoise. 

Then  the  gods  made  Mandara  the  churning  stick, 
and  took  a  snake  to  be  the  cord,  and  set  about  churning 
the  Ocean  to  get  the  Amrit.  Some  held  the  snake  by 
the  hood  and  others  by  the  tail,  and  thus  they  turned 
the  mighty  rock  and  churned  the  waters  of  the  Ocean. 

They  grew  so  hot  and  weary  that  the  showers  which 
fell  from  heaven  were  cool  and  refreshing,  as  were  the 
flowers  that  fell  upon  them  from  the  trees  on  the  whirling 
Mandara. 

Then,  O  best  of  sages,  out  of  the  deep  came  a 
tremendous  roaring  as  the  mighty  rock  churned  its 
waters,  and  many  of  the  fish  were  crushed  by  the  rock, 
and  died  in  the  salt  waters  of  the  Ocean.  From  the 
turning  Mandara  great  trees  were  torn  up  by  the  roots, 
and  fell  into  the  water,  and  the  mountain  looked  like 
a  mass  of  dark  clouds  charged  with  lightning.  O  best  of 


74    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

Brahmans,  the  fire  increased  and  burnt  the  lions  and 
elephants  and  other  creatures  upon  the  mountain's 
sides,  until  at  last  the  storm  god  extinguished  the  fire  by 
pouring  upon  it  heavy  showers. 

O  best  of  Brahmans,  after  the  churning  had  gone  on 
for  a  long  time,  the  gods  obtained  gums  and  various 
juices,  and  fine  gold  from  the  Ocean.  But  still  the 
Amrit  did  not  appear. 

Then  the  gods  called  upon  Brahma  and  said,  "  Sire, 
we  are  spent.  We  have  not  strength  left  to  churn,  and 
yet  the  Amrit  has  not  appeared.  We  have  no  help 
now,  unless  the  spirit  that  moves  upon  the  waters  will 
hear  us." 

Brahma  listened  to  their  prayer,  and  said  to  the 
spirit  that  moves  upon  the  waters,  "  O  Narayana,  be 
pleased  to  grant  the  gods  strength  to  churn  the  deep 
afresh." 

Then  the  spirit  that  moves  upon  the  waters  heard 
their  prayers,  and  said,  "  Ye  wise  ones,  I  grant  you 
strength.  Go,  place  the  mountain  in  the  waters  and 
churn  them  once  again." 

Then  the  gods,  with  renewed  strength,  recommenced 
their  churning  of  the  Ocean.  After  a  little  while  the 
mild  moon,  which  had  been  lost  during  all  this  terrible 
time,  arose  from  the  Ocean  and  shed  its  thousand  rays 
upon  them.  Then  came  wine,  and  the  wonderful  white 
steed,  and  then  the  wondrous  jewel,  Kaustubha,  which 
adorns  the  breast  of  the  spirit  that  moves  upon  the 
waters.  Then,  to  the  joy  of  all,  came  one  bearing  the 
much  longed-for  Amrit  in  a  white  vessel.  The  churn- 
ing still  went  on,  however,  and  there  arose  at  length  a 
great  elephant  with  two  pairs  of  shining  white  tusks. 

Alas  !  then,  gods  and  men  began  to  quarrel  as  to  who 
should  have  the  precious  Amrit,  but  Vishnu  helped  the 
gods,  and  they  were  soon  drinking  the  precious  nectar. 
But  while  they  drank  the  Amrit,  a  mortal  entered  and 
drank  of  it  too.  Then,  on  the  shores  of  the  salt  water 
sea,  began  a  dreadful  fight  between  gods  and  men.  And 


THE  CHURNING  OF  THE  OCEAN        75 

when  the  sun  arose  in  his  splendour,  thousands  of 
warriors  struck  one  another  with  their  weapons,  and 
cries  of  distress  were  heard  on  every  side.  At  last  the 
gods  obtained  the  victory.  Then  they  paid  their 
respects  to  their  churning  stick,  Mandara,  and  placed  it 
on  its  base  again.  Then  the  nectar-bearing  gods,  making 
the  heavens  resound  with  their  shouts  of  joy,  returned 
to  their  homes.  "  But  the  white  vessel  from  which  the 
Amrit  could  always  be  obtained  was  given  by  the  gods 
into  the  care  of  the  spirit  that  moves  upon  the  waters. 

Then  Sauti  ended  his  story  by  saying,  "  Thus  have  I 
recited  to  you  the  whole  story  of  how  the  Amrit  was 
churned  out  of  the  Ocean." 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  POSSESSED  PRINCESS 1 

AN    EGYPTIAN    STORY 

ABOUT  the  year  1266  B.C.,  Rameses  II,  King  of  Egypt, 
was  receiving  tribute  from  the  kings  and  princes  of 
Arabia  and  Asia  Minor.  The  princes  threw  themselves 
on  the  ground  before  the  mighty  King  of  Egypt,  and 
addressed  him  as  the  Lord  of  the  Two  Countries,  the 
King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  The  Powerful  Bull, 
the  Hawk  of  Gold,  the  Son  of  the  Sun,  the  Lord  of  the 
Thebaid,  the  Destroyer  of  the  Barbarians,  the  Beloved 
of  the  great  god  Amen-Ra.  They  vied  with  one 
another  in  bringing  costly  presents,  gold,  lapis  lazuli, 
turquoise,  and  precious  woods  from  Arabia. 

Then  came  Khattusil,  King  of  Khatti,  bringing  the 
loveliest  present  of  all.  He  and  his  followers  had 
travelled  to  Tanis  in  northern  Egypt  in  winter,  in  spite 
of  the  snows,  of  the  icy  passes  of  the  Taurus,  and  the  rain 
among  the  hills  of  Palestine.  This  seemed  a  dreadful 
journey  to  the  Egyptians,  but  perhaps  Khattusil  and  his 
people  found  the  snow  and  the  rain  as  easy  to  bear  as 
the  Egyptians  found  their  summer  heat,  which  seemed 
dreadfu]  to  the  people  of  Khatti. 

The  lovely  present  which  Khattusil  had  brought  was 
his  eldest  daughter.  She  was  a  very  beautiful  person, 
and  delighted  the  heart  of  his  Majesty  beyond  all  things 
he  had  ever  seen.  So  when  she  and  her  father  knelt 
before  him,  and  offered  their  tribute  of  gold  and  silver, 
he  raised  her  up  and  bestowed  upon  her  the  title  of 
Queen.  So  she  was  married  to  Rameses  II,  and  was 

1  This  story  is  to  be  found  on  a  sandstone  tablet  now  in  the 
Bibliotheque  Nationale,  Paris. 

76 


LEGEND  OF  THE  POSSESSED  PRINCESS    77 

given  an  Egpytian  name,  which  meant  "  the  Princess 
who  sees  the  beauties  of  Ra."  For  Ra  was  the  great 
god  of  Egypt,  and  when  the  Princess  became  the  Queen 
of  Egypt,  and  went  to  live  there,  she  had  to  worship 
the  Egyptian  gods. 

Now  it  happened  that  some  time  later,  when  the 
King  of  Egypt  was  in  Thebes  for  the  Festival  of 
Amen-Ra,  a  messenger  came  from  the  Queen's  father, 
Khattusil.  The  messenger  brought  many  presents  for 
the  Queen,  and  was  brought  into  the  presence  of 
Rameses.  As  soon  as  he  saw  the  King,  he  bowed  before 
him  and  worshipped  him.  And  when  he  had  made  an 
end  of  worshipping  the  King,  he  said,  "  My  Lord,  I 
have  come  to  thee  because  of  Bent  Rash,  the  little  sister 
of  the  Queen.  Illness  has  shaken  all  her  limbs,  and 
she  cannot  be  cured.  Would  it  be  pleasing  to  thy 
Majesty  to  send  a  sacred  doctor  to  see  her." 

Rameses  loved  his  Queen,  "  The  Princess  who  sees  the 
Beauties  of  Ra,"  very  dearly,  so  he  was  anxious  that 
her  little  sister  should  be  cured.  He  ordered  his  servants 
to  bring  to  him  all  the  wise  men  of  Egypt  to  hear  the 
story  of  the  illness  of  the  Queen's  little  sister,  Bent 
Rash,  and  from  among  them  he  chose  a  very  clever 
doctor  who  went  to  Khatti  to  see  poor  little  Bent  Rash. 
Alas  !  he  could  do  nothing  for  her,  and  returned  to 
Egypt  saying  that  the  little  princess  must  be  possessed 
by  an  evil  spirit. 

Then  Khattusil,  the  Queen's  father,  sent  a  second 
time  to  Rameses,  as  he  was  again  keeping  the  festival  of 
Amen-Ra  in  Thebes.  The  messenger  bowed  before  the 
King,  and  said,  "  My  good  Lord,  I  am  again  before  you 
because  of  the  illness  of  Bent  Rash,  the  little  sister  of 
the  Queen."  Now  there  was  in  Egypt  an  image  of  the 
god  Khonsu,  which  was  called  Khonsu  the  Plan  Maker. 
This  image  was  famous  because  of  its  power  of  driving 
out  evil  spirits,  and  everyone  was  sure  that  this  image 
of  Khonsu  the  Plan  Maker  would  be  able  to  cure  the 
little  princess. 


78     ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

In  the  temple  at  Thebes,  there  was  a  great  statue  of 
the  god  Khonsu,  and  Rameses  determined  to  ask  the  god 
if  he  would  like  him  to  send  the  image  of  Khonsu  the 
Plan  Maker  to  Khatti  to  cure  the  Queen's  little  sister. 
So  the  King  came  into  the  temple  and  bowed  before 
the  god  and  worshipped  him,  and  said,  "  O  great  lord, 
if  thou  turnest  thy  face  towards  Khonsu  the  Plan  Maker, 
who  can  drive  away  evil  spirits,  I  will  send  him  to  cure 
little  Bent  Rash."  Then  the  King  pleaded  with  the 
god  to  let  his  protection  go  with  the  image  of  the  Plan 
Maker.  The  head  of  the  god  was  bent  deeply,  deeply, 
so  the  King  knew  that  the  god  was  pleased. 

He  therefore  ordered  that  the  image  should  be  sent 
to  the  land  of  Khatti  to  cure  the  King's  little  daughter. 
The  god  was  taken  in  great  state  in  an  ark,  with  many 
priests  and  followers,  first  in  a  boat,  with  five  small 
boats  to  guard  it,  and  afterwards  in  a  chariot,  with  many 
chariots  and  horses  to  guard  it. 

At  last  they  reached  the  land  of  Khattusil,  and  the 
King  and  his  soldiers  came  forward  to  meet  the  god. 
The  King  threw  himself  face  downwards  on  the  ground 
and  worshipped  the  image  of  Khonsu  the  Plan  Maker, 
the  driver-out  of  evil  spirits.  Then  the  god  was  taken 
to  the  place  where  Bent  Rash  was,  and  he  cured  her  at 
once.  For  the  evil  spirit  left  her  as  soon  as  Khonsu  came 
near.  The  priest  of  the  god  ordered  that  a  solemn 
sacrifice  should  be  made,  and  there  was  a  great  day  of 
rejoicing. 

Khattusil  and  all  his  people  were  so  much  delighted 
that  they  would  not  let  the  god  go  back  to  Egypt.  He 
was  kept  there  for  three  years,  four  months,  and  five 
days.  Then  one  night,  as  Khattusil  lay  upon  his  couch, 
he  dreamed  that  the  spirit  of  the  god  came  out  from  his 
temple  in  the  form  of  a  beautiful  golden  hawk,  and  flew 
back  to  Egypt.  This  filled  the  King  with  horror,  and  he 
said  to  the  priest  of  Khonsu  the  Plan  Maker,  "  Your  god 
is  angry  with  us,  "  Let  him  return  to  Egypt  in  his 
chariot." 


LEGEND  OF  THE  POSSESSED  PRINCESS  79 

So  Bent  Rash's  father  sent  the  god  back  to  Egypt  with 
very  many  presents  of  every  kind,  and  guarded  by  troops 
and  very  many  horsemen.  They  reached  Egypt  in 
peace,  and  the  presents  were  given  to  the  temple  of  the 
god  in  Thebes. 


AN  UNFORTUNATE  MAIDEN 

A    GREEK    STORY 

ARGOLIS  was  the  first  state  to  be  founded  in  the  country 
which  is  now  called  Greece.  Its  first  king  was  Inachos, 
a  god  who  rose  out  of  the  river  that  waters  the  grassy 
plain  on  which  great  herds  of  cattle  pastured  in  his  time. 
Now  Inachos  had  a  most  lovely  daughter,  lo,  who, 
however,  was  not  a  goddess,  but  only  a  poor  mortal.  Her 
wondrous  beauty  brought  lo  nothing  but  grief  and  pain, 
for  Zeus,  the  King  of  the  gods,  looked  down  upon  Argolis 
and  saw  lo.  So  lovely  was  she  that  he  began  to  admire 
her  very  much,  and  could  think  of  nothing  else.  This 
vexed  Hera,  the  Queen  of  the  Gods,  especially  as  lo 
was  only  a  mortal,  and  in  her  rage  and  jealousy  she  began 
to  think  what  evils  and  troubles  she  could  bring  upon 
the  unhappy  maiden. 

For  some  time  past,  lo  had  been  troubled  with  strange 
dreams,  so  at  last  she  asked  her  father  what  he  thought 
they  meant.  At  that  time,  if  anyone  among  the  people 
of  that  land  had  strange  dreams,  he  used  to  send  a 
messenger  to  the  Speaking  Oak  of  Dodona.  This 
wonderful  tree  would  reply  to  any  questions  which  it 
was  asked,  and  would  give  advice  as  to  what  mortals 
ought  to  do  if  they  wanted  to  please  the  gods.  So 
Inachus  sent  some  one  to  ask  what  lo's  dreams  meant, 
and  if  he  ought  to  do  anything  about  them.  Picture 
his  grief  and  dismay  when  the  messenger  brought  back 
word  that  if  he  wished  to  avoid  the  wrath  of  the  gods, 
and  to  save  the  whole  of  his  race  from  destruction,  he 
must  drive  his  poor,  pretty  daughter  lo  out  of  his  home 
and  kingdom.  Unhappy  Inachos  shed  many  tears,  but 

80 


W 


AN  UNFORTUNATE  MAIDEN  81 

alas  !  he  dared  not  disobey  the  gods,  so  lo  was  driven 
forth  a  homeless  wanderer. 

No  sooner  had  Inachos  done  this  cruel  deed  than 
Hera,  in  her  rage  and  spite,  changed  lo  into  a  white 
heifer,  and  thus  put  an  end  to  her  beauty.  Besides  this, 
she  sent  a  horrid  gadfly  to  torment  the  poor  heifer  with 
its  stings.  At  the  pain  of  its  sharp  sting,  lo  rushed  down 
to  the  Springs  of  Lerna,  to  try  to  cool  her  burning 
smart  in  its  clear  waters.  Poor  lo  !  as  she  rushed  along 
half  mad  with  pain,  there  suddenly  rose  from  the  ground 
Argus,  the  thousand-eyed,  who  had  been  sent  by  Hera  to 
goad  the  poor  heifer  still  further,  and  to  watch  over  her 
night  and  day  lest  anyone  should  drive  away  the  gadfly 
and  comfort  her.  Thus  to  lo's  other  misfortunes  was 
added  the  constant  presence  of  this  thousand-eyed 
herdsman,  whose  fierce  looks  filled  her  with  terror  and 
dismay. 

She  wandered  across  the  plains  of  Greece,  and  came  to 
the  Speaking  Oak  of  Dodona.  Here  she  got  her  first 
bit  of  comfort,  for  the  Oracle  hailed  her  as  a  maiden  who 
would  become  the  wife  of  a  king,  and  the  mother  of  a 
race  of  kings.  But  even  as  the  oak  was  speaking,  the 
gadfly  stung  her  into  madness,  and  she  rushed  wildly 
away  to  the  shores  of  the  Adriatic,  which  for  a  long  time 
was  called  the  Ionian  Gulf,  in  memory  of  her. 

Still  driven  by  the  stinging  gadfly  and  the  fierce 
herdsman,  she  wandered  on  till  she  came  to  an  untrodden 
waste  of  wild  desert,  and  there  she  saw  some  one  whose 
misfortunes  were  as  great  as  her  own.  For,  chained  to 
a  lonely  rock,  with  no  shelter  from  the  blazing  summer 
sun,  or  the  chill,  piercing  winter  winds,  was  the  god 
Prometheus.  He  had  been  fastened  there  by  the  orders 
of  Zeus,  who  was  furiously  angry,  because  Prometheus 
had  stolen  fire  from  heaven,  and  had  taught  mortals 
how  to  use  it.  As  Prometheus  was  a  god,  and  could  not 
die,  but  must  stay  chained  to  the  rock  in  this  wild  lonely 
spot  for  evermore,  his  punishment  was  terrible  indeed. 

When  Ip  reached  the  foot  of  the  rock  and  looked  up, 


82    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

she  begged  Prometheus  to  tell  her  who  he  was,  and  why 
he  was  thus  tortured,  but  even  as  she  was  asking  him, 
the  gadfly  stung  her  again.  She  sobbed  out  most 
pitifully,  "  Oh  !  the  gadfly  again  pierces  my  poor  flesh. 
O  Mother  Earth  !  listen  to  my  prayers  and  save  me 
from  the  crafty  herdsman  who  drives  me,  weary  and 
hungry,  by  the  sandy  shores.  O  King  of  the  gods  !  take 
pity  on  me.  Burn  me  with  fire,  stifle  me  beneath  the 
earth,  or  give  me  as  a  prey  to  the  wild  sea  monsters,  but 
save  me  from  this  terrible  fate.  Listen  to  the  prayers 
of  a  poor  maiden,  for  a  maiden  I  am,  though  I  bear  the 
horns  of  a  heifer." 

Then  Prometheus  called  to  her  by  name,  and  he  and 
lo  told  one  another  of  their  misfortunes.  Prometheus 
sorrowfully  told  lo  that  her  troubles  were  not  nearly 
over,  and  that  if  she  was  weeping  and  weary  now,  he 
did  not  know  in  what  state  she  would  be  before  she 
reached  the  place  where  her  wanderings  were  to  cease. 
He  told  her  that  great  as  her  misfortunes  were,  she  was 
happier  than  he,  for  there  would  come  a  time  when  her 
sorrows  would  end,  but  that  he  must  be  tortured  for 
ever. 

The  gadfly  then  stung  lo  so  fiercely  that  the  fit  of 
madness  overtook  her  again,  and  with  wildly  beating 
heart  and  terror  in  her  eyes,  she  dashed  on  again. 

Facing  the  rising  sun,  she  crossed  the  great  steppes, 
which  had  not  at  that  time  felt  the  plough  of  man. 
She  passed  great  hordes  of  Nomad  Scyths,  who  moved 
from  place  to  place  in  wicker  cots  raised  on  wheeled 
cars,  and  who  could  shoot  the  arrow  with  deadly  aim. 
She  saw  the  home  of  that  fierce  race  which  early  learnt 
to  make  sharp  iron  weapons,  but  she  did  not  dare  to  go 
near  them,  for  their  weapons  were  more  deadly  than  the 
Scythian  arrows. 

She  mounted  the  passes  of  the  lofty  Caucasus,  where 
the  high  peaks  seemed  to  reach  the  very  sky,  and  all  the 
time  the  gadfly  and  the  herdsman  pursued  her,  quite 
deaf  to  her  piteous  sobs  and  entreaties. 


AN  UNFORTUNATE  MAIDEN  83 

She  passed  the  Sea  of  Azof  and  the  Crimea,  and  thus 
left  Europe  for  Asia,  by  the  Straits  of  Bosphorus,  which 
still  bear  witness  to  her  crossing  in  their  name,  which 
is  just  the  Greek  way  of  saying  Oxford. 

In  her  wanderings  she  saw  many  wonderful  sights,  the 
troops  of  armed  women  who  fought  as  fiercely  as  any 
men,  the  three  swan-shaped  sisters,  who  had  only  one 
eye  and  one  tooth  between  them,  their  three  other 
sisters,  the  Gorgons,  whose  snaky  locks  made  them  so 
hideous  that  no  mortal  dared  gaze  upon  them.  She  also 
came  to  the  griffins — great  dogs  with  the  heads  of  hawks 
— and  to  a  wild  tribe  of  riders  on  horseback,  who  lived 
near  the  streams  that  wash  down  gold  in  their  sands. 

At  last  her  wanderings  brought  her  to  the  coast  of 
the  eastern  Mediterranean,  and  passing  southwards  by 
Syria,  and  then  turning  west,  she  came  to  the  land  of 
Egypt.  Here  at  last  peace  and  rest  came  to  her,  for 
Zeus  was  able  to  free  her  from  Hera's  toils.  He  gently 
stroked  the  poor  heifer,  and  at  the  soothing  touch  of  his 
divine  hand,  lo  became  once  more  a  lovely  maiden. 
The  gadfly  and  the  herdsman  disappeared,  and  she 
settled  down  in  peace  at  Canopus,  a  city  on  the  western 
edge  of  the  Nile  delta.  Here  was  born  to  her  a  son,  who 
became  king  of  all  those  fertile  plains  that  are  watered 
by  the  mighty  Nile.  I  hope  he  loved  lo,  and  comforted 
her  and  helped  her  to  forget  what  a  sad  and  weary  time 
she  had  had  while  she  was  a  homeless  wanderer  through 
Europe  and  Asia. 


THE  DANCE  OF  THE  GIANTS 

A    BRITISH    STORY 

LONG  ago  a  king  of  Britain  had  won  a  great  victory, 
but  instead  of  rejoicing  at  his  success,  he  was  filled  with 
grief  and  sorrow  for  the  earls  and  princes  who  had 
helped  him  in  the  battle,  but  had  lost  their  lives.  As 
he  gazed  upon  the  green  turf  which  covered  their  bodies, 
he  fell  to  wondering  how  he  might  best  preserve  the 
memory  of  these  noble  friends  who  had  died  for  their 
country. 

Then  he  called  together  all  the  master  craftsmen  in 
stone  and  wood,  and  asked  them  to  put  forth  all  their 
skill  to  try  to  make  some  new  kind  of  building  that 
should  stand  for  ever  in  memory  of  men  so  worthy.  The 
craftsmen  gazed  sadly  upon  one  another,  and  then  told 
the  King  that  they  were  quite  unable  to  build  any- 
thing wonderful  enough  to  satisfy  him.  Just  then  a 
friend  of  the  King  said  to  him,  "  If  there  be  any  man 
strong  enough  to  carry  out  this  plan,  it  is  Merlin 
the  prophet.  Never  another  man  in  thy  kingdom  is 
brighter  of  wit  than  he.  Bid  him  set  his  wits  to 
work,  and  he  will  build  thee  a  monument  to  last  for 
ever." 

So  the  King  sent  for  Merlin,  who  listened  to  his 
request  for  a  monument  of  his  fallen  friends  that  should 
last  for  ever.  Then  the  wise  Merlin  said,  "  If  you  wish 
to  grace  the  burial  place  of  these  men,  send  for  the 
Dance  of  the  Giants  that  is  in  Killaurus,  a  mountain  in 
Ireland." 

He  told  the  King  that  this  Dance  of  the  Giants  was  a 
great  ring  of  huge  stones,  each  so  large  that  none  of  the 

84 


THE  DANCE  OF  THE  GIANTS  85 

men  who  were  now  living  could  raise  even  one,  unless 
his  brain  was  as  clever  as  his  strength  was  great.  He 
added  that  the  stones  were  of  such  wonderful  size  and 
virtue  that  if  they  were  set  up  in  a  circle  around  the 
grassy  plot  where  the  King's  friends  lay  dead,  just  as 
they  were  now  set  up  in  Ireland,  they  would  stand 
for  ever. 

Upon  hearing  this,  the  King  very  rudely  burst  out 
laughing,  and  said  it  would  be  a  fine  thing  indeed  to 
fetch  stones  of  such  huge  size  from  so  distant  a  country, 
when  Britain  had  plenty  of  stones  quite  close  at  hand 
for  the  job.  Then  Merlin  rebuked  the  King,  and  told 
him  that  he  ought  not  to  laugh  so  lightly,  for  he  had 
been  very  much  in  earnest  when  he  advised  the  King 
to  send  for  them.  He  said,  "  Long  ago  giants  of  old 
did  carry  these  stones  from  the  furthest  ends  of  Africa, 
and  bring  them  to  Ireland,  and  set  them  up  there. 
They  were  at  the  trouble  to  bring  them  all  that  long 
way  because  the  stones  were  sacred  and  had  a  healing 
virtue.  If  any  of  these  giants  of  old  fell  sick,  he  had 
only  to  wash  the  stones  with  water  and  then  to  bathe 
in  this  water,  and  he  would  be  healed  of  his  disease.  If 
any  of  them  had  been  wounded  in  battle,  he  had  only 
to  collect  some  herbs  and  mix  them  into  a  paste  with 
water  that  had  touched  the  stones,  and  put  this  paste 
upon  the  wound,  and  it  would  be  cured  at  once."  Now, 
when  the  King  and  the  Britons  heard  this,  they  became 
very  eager  to  fetch  the  wonderful  healing  stones,  and 
set  them  up  upon  the  plain.  So  the  King's  brother  got 
together  a  great  army  in  case  the  Irish  should  fight  to 
keep  the  Britons  from  taking  away  their  stones.  Of 
course  they  took  Merlin  with  them  so  that  he  might 
use  his  wit  to  help  them  to  take  down  and  carry  away 
these  giant  pillars. 

At  last  the  ships  were  ready,  and  a  light  wind  bore 
them  across  to  Ireland.  Here  they  were  met  by  the 
brave  young  King  of  Ireland,  who  had  heard  of  their 
coming,  and  had  got  together  a  great  army,  for  he  was 


86    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

determined  not  to  let  the  Britons  take  away  the  very- 
smallest  stone  of  the  Dance. 

A  dreadful  battle  took  place,  but  at  last  the  Irish  were 
overcome,  and  the  Britons  hastened  to  Killaurus.  There 
they  found,  to  their  delight  and  wonder,  that  the  stones 
were  standing  in  a  great  circle,  just  as  Merlin  had  said. 
As  they  stood  gazing,  Merlin  called  to  them,  "  Now, 
my  men,  try  what  you  can  do  to  fetch  me  down  these 
stones.  Then  you  will  see  whether  strength  is  better 
than  skill." 

So  they  set  to  work  with  one  accord  to  try  all  manner 
of  plans  to  fetch  down  the  Dance.  They  tried  with 
ropes  and  ladders  placed  in  all  sorts  of  ways,  but,  though 
they  tired  themselves  out  with  their  efforts,  not  one  of 
them  could  move  a  stone  so  much  as  an  inch. 

Then  Merlin  fell  a  laughing  at  them,  and  he  put 
together  his  own  engines.  With  them  he  laid  down  the 
stones  so  gently  that  the  men  who  were  watching  could 
hardly  believe  their  own  eyes.  He  bade  the  men  carry 
the  stones  on  to  the  boats  and  set  out  for  England. 
Presently,  with  the  help  of  a  fair  wind,  they  came  to  a 
landing  place.  They  lifted  the  heavy  stones  from 
out  the  boat  in  the  way  that  Merlin  told  them  to  do, 
and  carried  them  to  the  burial  place  of  the  King's 
friends.  There  Merlin  set  them  up  in  a  circle  exactly 
as  they  had  stood  in  Ireland,  and  so  showed  the  King  and 
the  people  that  skill  was  better  than  strength,  and  there 
they  stand  to  this  very  day. 

As  for  the  giants  who  had  set  them  up  in  Killaurus 
hundreds  of  years  before  Merlin's  time,  they  must 
indeed  have  been  wonderful  men.  Although  they  lived 
so  long  ago  that  very  likely  they  did  not  know  how  to 
use  iron  or  even  metal  tools,  but  had  only  wooden  and 
stone  weapons  and  tools,  they,  like  the  lake-dwellers, 
could  make  themselves  boats.  What  is  even  more 
wonderful  is  that  these  men,  in  their  simply  made  boats, 
with  nothing  to  guide  them  but  the  sun  and  the  stars 
and  the  winds,  braved  the  dangers  of  the  wild,  stormy 


THE  DANCE  OF  THE  GIANTS  87 

Atlantic,  and  sailed  from  Africa  to  Ireland.  They  could 
not,  of  course,  put  right  out  to  sea  and  sail  from  one  big 
port  to  another  in  a  few  days  as  the  great  steamers  do 
nowadays.  They  had  to  keep  near  to  the  coast,  and  to 
stop  at  very  many  little  landing  places  on  their  long 
journey. 

One  story  tells  us  that  a  certain  Scythian  named 
Fenius,  a  king  of  those  wandering  tribes  whom  lo  had 
passed  in  her  sad  journey,  was  turned  out  of  his  kingdom. 
He  and  some  of  his  followers  went  to  Egypt,  but  were 
turned  out  of  that  country,  and  wandered  along  the 
north  of  Africa  and  the  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean, 
going  from  one  little  port  on  the  coast  to  the  next  just 
as  the  wind  carried  them.  At  last  they  landed  on  the 
shores  of  Spain,  where  they  found  a  home  that  suited 
them  and  where  they  prospered  greatly,  and  set  up  many 
of  their  sacred  stones.  Here,  too,  they  heard  many 
tales  of  a  wonderful  country  in  the  west,  called  Ireland, 
where  there  was  gold  in  abundance.  On  clear  evenings 
they  fancied  they  could  see  the  shores  of  that  favoured 
isle  in  the  far  distance.  At  last  they  set  out  to  find  it. 
There  they  landed  and  went  to  Killaurus,  where  they 
set  up  their  sacred  stone  circle.  Many  people  have 
wondered  at  the  skill  which  they  displayed  in  measuring 
their  great  circles  so  exactly,  and  in  raising  these  heavy 
stone  pillars  into  position  in  that  dim  past  when  men 
had  so  few  tools  and  no  books  to  help  them.  No  one 
has  ever  yet  found  out  the  secret  of  how  they  did  it,  but 
the  stones  they  raised  are  to  be  seen  to  this  day  all 
along  the  western  shores  of  Europe  from  Africa  to 
Ireland. 

The  country  folk  tell  many  queer  tales  of  the  wonderful 
things  the  stones  can  do,  and  of  the  long  forgotten  race 
of  men  who  first  set  up  these  sacred  pillars. 


DIARMUID  AND  GRAINNE 

AN    IRISH    STORY 

ON  a  certain  day  Fionn  of  the  Fenians  arose  at  early- 
morn  upon  the  Hill  of  Allen,  and  sat  upon  the  green 
grass,  with  neither  servant  nor  follower  near  him.  Now 
Oisin,  the  son  of  Fionn,  came  to  his  father  and  said, 
"  Why  hast  thou  risen  so  early  and  why  art  thou  alone  ?  " 
Then  Fionn  replied  that  he  was  lonely  and  unhappy 
because  his  wife  had  died  very  long  before. 

Then  Divrruing,  Fionn's  friend,  said  to  him,  "  I  myself 
could  find  thee  a  fitting  wife."  "  Who  is  she  ?  "  said 
Fionn.  "  She  is  Grainne,  the  daughter  of  Cormac,  the 
most  lovely  in  face  and  form,  and  the  fairest  in  speech  of 
all  the  women  in  the  world,"  replied  Divrruing.  But 
Fionn  answered  that  he  and  Cormac  had  quarrelled 
long  ago,  and  that  he  could  not  bear  that  Cormac  should 
refuse  to  give  his  daughter  to  him.  Then  Oisin  and 
Divrruing  said  they  would  go  to  see  if  Cormac  was  willing 
to  give  Grainne  to  Fionn.  Now,  when  they  made  their 
request  to  Cormac,  he  said  he  would  ask  Grainne  her- 
self what  she  wished.  So  they  went  across  together  to 
the  palace  of  the  women  in  the  Halls  of  Tara.  Then 
Cormac  sat  upon  the  couch  beside  his  daughter  Grainne, 
and  said,  "  Here  are  two  of  the  people  of  Fionn  of  the 
Fenians  come  to  ask  thee  to  be  his  wife.  What  answer 
wilt  thou  give  them  ?  "  Grainne  only  said,  "  If  he  be 
a  fit  son-in-law  for  thee,  why  should  he  not  be  a  fit  mate 
for  me  ?  "  But  Oisin  and  Divrruing  were  quite  satisfied 
with  the  answer.  So  Cormac  arranged  that  Fionn 
should  meet  Grainne  a  fortnight  from  that  night  in  the 
Halls  of  Tara. 

88 


DIARMUID  AND  GRAINNE  89 

A  fortnight  later,  Fionn  collected  the  seven  battalions 
of  the  Fenians,  and  they  came  to  the  plains  of  Tara, 
where  Cormac  and  the  chiefs  of  Erin  gave  them  a 
pleasant  welcome,  and  took  them  to  the  King's  pleasure 
hall  in  Tara.  There  they  feasted  and  enjoyed  them- 
selves, and  Grainne  began  to  talk  to  a  Druid  of  the 
Fenians.  After  Grainne  had  sung  the  sweet  songs  of 
her  ancestors,  she  asked  the  Druid  why  Fionn  had  come 
to  Tara.  When  the  Druid  told  her  that  Fionn  wanted 
her  for  his  wife,  she  said  it  seemed  a  great  marvel  to  her 
that  a-  man  who  was  older  than  her  father  should  want 
to  marry  her,  and  said  she  would  have  liked  it  much 
better  if  he  had  asked  her  to  marry  his  son  Oisin.  Then 
she  asked  the  Druid,  "  Who  is  that  pleasant-voiced  man 
with  the  curling  dusky  black  hair,  and  the  ruddy  cheeks, 
and  white  teeth  ?  "  "  That  is  Diarmuid  of  the  joyous 
countenance,"  replied  the  Druid. 

Then  Grainne  called  her  handmaid  to  bring  to  her 
the  jewelled  golden  cup  with  the  beautiful  designs  upon 
it.  This  she  filled  with  wine  and  caused  her  handmaid 
to  take  to  each  of  the  guests  except  Diarmuid.  As  soon 
as  they  had  drunk  from  the  goblet  they  fell  fast  asleep. 
Grainne  rose  and  walked  towards  Diarmuid  and  begged 
him  to  take  her  away  at  once  before  Fionn  and  her 
father  awoke. 

But  Diarmuid  said  he  was  not  worthy  to  marry  her, 
and  asked  her  what  she  knew  of  him.  Grainne  told 
him  she  had  often  watched  him  at  the  games  upon  the 
plains  of  Tara,  and  that  she  would  not  marry  anyone, 
if  she  could  not  marry  Diarmuid.  Grainne  walked  forth 
to  the  wicket  gate  of  the  palace,  and  Diarmuid  followed 
her.  He  sprang  lightly  over  the  wicket  gate  on  to  the 
green  grass  of  the  plains  of  Tara,  and  walked  along  by 
the  side  of  Grainne.  He  told  Grainne  that  she  would 
have  but  a  sad  time  with  him,  for  it  was  certain  that 
Fionn  would  pursue  them,  but  Grainne  said  she  would 
not  be  parted  from  him  except  by  death.  They  crossed 
a  stream  and  walked  westward  into  Galway.  Here 


90    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

Diarmuid  cut  down  a  few  trees  in  a  grove,  and  made 
seven  doors  around  the  grove,  and  made  a  bed  of  rushes 
and  birch  tops  for  Grainne  to  rest  upon. 

In  the  morning  Fionn  and  Cormac  arose  and  found 
Diarmuid  and  Grainne  gone.  Fionn  followed  in  a  great 
rage,  but  lost  track  of  them  by  the  stream.  Later  he 
said,  "  I  shall  find  them  in  the  grove  that  is  in  the  wood." 
Upon  that  Oisin  became  filled  with  pity  for  Diarmuid 
and  Grainne,  and  loosed  Bran,  the  hound  of  Fionn,  and 
sent  him  to  the  grove  to  Diarmuid  to  warn  him  that 
Fionn  was  coming. 

Bran  understood  his  work  right  well,  and  followed 
Diarmuid's  track,  and  came  upon  him  asleep  in  the  grove. 
When  Bran  thrust  his  head  into  Diarmuid's  bosom, 
Diarmuid  understood  the  message.  He  sprang  up  and 
roused  Grainne,  and  told  her  that  Fionn's  son,  Oisin, 
had  sent  Bran  to  him  as  a  warning.  Grainne  begged 
him  to  take  the  warning,  but  he  would  not.  Later, 
Oisin,  still  fearing  for  Diarmuid's  life,  sent  his  servant, 
who  had  such  a  loud  voice  that  he  could  be  heard  for 
miles  around,  to  give  three  special  shouts,  so  that 
Diarmuid  might  know  his  danger  and  escape.  But 
Diarmuid  would  not  escape. 

Then  Fionn  of  the  Fenians  said  to  his  son  Oisin.  "  It 
was  useless  for  you  to  warn  Diarmuid  by  the  message 
of  Bran  and  by  the  three  shouts  of  the  servant,  for  he 
shall  not  leave  the  grove  till  I  have  taken  my  revenge 
upon  him."  So  Fionn  and  the  Fenians  came  to  the 
grove,  and  Diarmuid  would  not  hide  or  escape,  but 
stood  by  the  side  of  Grainne,  and  defied  Fionn,  and 
kissed  Grainne  three  times  in  presence  of  them  all.  That 
would  have  brought  death  to  Diarmuid,  if  it  had  not 
been  for  his  teacher,  Angus,  who  was  wise  in  the  learning 
of  the  Tuatha-de-Danann.  In  his  palace  on  the  river 
Boyne,  his  magic  showed  to  him  the  danger  of  his  foster- 
son.  So  he  came  upon  the  swift  wind  and  reached 
Diarmuid  and  Grainne,  and  offered  to  take  them  away 
under  his  magic  mantle,  without  either  Fionn  or  the 


DIARMUID  AND  GRAINNE  91 

Fenians  seeing  them.  Diarmuid  would  not  go  himself, 
but  he  made  Grainne  go,  promising  to  follow  later,  if  he 
defeated  Fionn  and  the  Fenians.  He  asked  Angus  to 
send  Grainne  safe  home  to  her  father,  if  it  should 
happen  that  Fionn  killed  him. 

Then,  when  Angus  had  carried  Grainne  safely  away 
under  his  magic  mantle,  Diarmuid  went  to  each  of  the 
seven  doors  and  called  to  know  who  was  on  the  other 
side.  Although  the  first  six  were  guarded  by  Fenians, 
they  felt  pity  for  Diarmuid,  and  offered  to  let  him 
escape.  But  Diarmuid  would  not  accept  their  offer 
because  he  knew  Fionn  would  kill  them  afterwards. 
When  he  came  to  the  door  that  Fionn  was  guarding,  he 
called  to  Fionn  and  said  he  would  come  by  that  door 
alone.  Then  Fionn  charged  his  seven  battalions  on  no 
account  to  let  Diarmuid  escape.  Diarmuid,  when  he 
heard  that,  arose  with  an  exceeding  light  and  airy  leap 
and  went  a  great  way  out  beyond  Fionn  and  the  Fenians 
so  that  they  could  not  see  him.  He  followed  the  track 
of  Angus  and  Grainne  and  came  upon  them  in  a  warm 
hut,  with  a  wide  fire  flaming  and  a  wild  boar  roasting 
on  the  spit.  Grainne  nearly  died  of  joy  to  see  him. 
They  ate  their  meal,  and  Angus  went  away  after  giving 
them  some  good  advice  as  to  how  to  escape  from 
Fionn. 

So  they  wandered  on  by  the  river  Shannon,  and  Angus 
caught  salmon  there.  Then  they  wandered  further 
and  came  to  a  moor  in  Tralee.  Here  they  came  upon  a 
goodly  youth  who,  however,  had  neither  arms  nor 
armour.  The  youth  offered  to  be  their  man,  and 
Diarmuid  bound  him  to  him  by  an  oath.  The  youth 
must  have  been  very  strong,  for  when  they  came  to  a 
stream  he  took  both  Diarmuid  and  Grainne  upon  his 
back,  and  carried  them  safely  across.  He  found  a 
roomy  cave  for  them,  and  made  them  a  bed  of  soft 
rushes  and  birch  tops.  Then  he  took  a  long  rod  and 
fastened  a  hair  and  a  hook  and  a  holly  berry  to  it,  and 
caught  three  fish,  which  he  cooked,  and  gave  the  two 


92    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

large  salmon  to  Diarmuid  and  Grainne,  and  kept  the 
small  one  for  himself. 

Next  morning,  Diarmuid  arose  early  and  looked  out 
over  the  sea.  There  he  saw  a  fleet  of  ships,  and  men 
landing  upon  the  foot  of  the  hill  on  which  Diarmuid 
stood.  He  greeted  them  and  asked  who  they  were. 
They  told  him  that  they  were  chieftains  from  the  sea 
between  France  and  Britain,  and  that  they  sought  the 
head  of  an  outlaw,  Diarmuid,  that  they  might  take  it 
to  Fionn  of  the  Fenians,  for  they  themselves  were 
Fenians.  Diarmuid  did  not  tell  them  who  he  was,  but 
said  that  yesterday  he  had  seen  a  man  who  had  seen 
Diarmuid.  "  Is  there  wine  in  your  ships  ?  "  quoth 
Diarmuid.  "  There  is,"  said  they. 

"  If  ye  were  pleased  to  bring  out  a  tun  of  wine,  I  would 
show  you  a  trick,"  said  he.  So  the  tun  was  brought, 
and  Diarmuid  and  the  men  drank  the  wine  from  it. 
Then  Diarmuid  mounted  on  the  tun,  and  took  it  up  the 
hill  and  down  again  without  once  getting  off.  They 
said  they  could  easily  do  the  same,  but  one  after  the 
other  tried  and  failed  and  the  tun  rolled  on  them  and 
crushed  them.  Thus  died  fifty  of  the  green  Fenians 
from  the  fleet  of  ships. 

Next  day,  they  asked  Diarmuid  to  show  them  another 
trick.  Diarmuid  took  the  yellow  spear  which  Mananan, 
one  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Tuatha-de-Danann,  had  given 
to  him.  He  thrust  it  in  the  ground,  point  uppermost, 
and  then  rose  with  a  light  bird-like  bound,  and  came 
down  on  the  point  without  being  hurt  at  all.  One 
after  another  of  the  green  Fenians  tried  to  do  the  same, 
but  each  of  them  was  cut  in  half  by  the  sword,  so  fifty 
more  died  the  second  day. 

On  the  third  day,  fifty  more  were  killed  by  another 
trick. 

Now  on  the  fourth  day,  Diarmuid  rose  at  early  dawn 
and  put  on  his  magic  suit  of  armour  through  which  no 
weapon  could  wound  him.  He  took  his  magic  sword  and 
magic  javelins,  which  always  brought  death  to  whom- 


DIARMUID  AND  GRAINNE  93 

soever  they  wounded.  Then  he  went  forth  and  told  the 
green  Fenians  that  he  was  Diarmuid,  and  laid  about  him 
with  his  magic  weapons  to  such  good  purpose  that  all 
of  them  were  slain  save  only  three  chiefs  and  a  few 
servants.  Next  day,  he  wounded  the  three  chiefs  so 
grievously  that  they  could  not  rise,  and  then  he  and 
Grainne  wandered  on  till  they  came  to  the  Mountains 
of  Kerry. 

The  servants  of  the  three  chiefs  tried  to  loose  them 
from  the  bonds  which  Diarmuid  had  put  on  them,  but 
the  magic  of  the  Tuatha-de-Danann  was  greater  than 
the  strength  of  the  green  Fenians.  Presently,  there 
came  a  witch,  sent  by  Fionn,  who  heard  the  sad  story 
of  Diarmuid's  dealings  with  the  green  Fenians  from  the 
sea. 

She  told  them  to  unloose  their  three  hounds  which 
could  be  slain  neither  by  fire  nor  water,  nor  weapon,  and 
to  set  them  on  the  track  of  Diarmuid  and  his  bride. 
She  promised  that  Fionn  and  his  seven  battalions  should 
come  to  their  aid. 

The  first  hound  was  loosed,  and  the  youth  who  had 
become  servant  to  the  wanderers  told  them  to  go  on, 
and  he  would  deal  with  the  hound.  He  took  from  his 
girdle  a  tiny  puppy,  and  put  it  on  the  palm  of  his  hand. 
Then  the  puppy  leapt  from  his  hand  right  into  the 
throat  of  the  fierce  hound,  and  sprang  back  on  the 
youth's  hand,  leaving  the  hound  dead.  Diarmuid 
slew  the  other  two  with  his  magic  javelins.  Then  he 
turned  and  slew  the  pursuers  also,  all  except  the  witch 
whom  Fionn  had  sent.  She  returned  to  Fionn,  who 
caused  three  wide  graves  to  be  dug  for  the  three  chiefs, 
and  their  monument  was  put  over  their  gravestone,  and 
their  names  were  written  in  Ogam.  Weary  and  heavy 
at  heart  was  Fionn  after  that. 

Fionn  tried  again  to  overcome  Diarmuid,  but  was 
again  defeated.  Then  he  went  to  the  King  of  Scotland 
and  got  an  army  from  him,  to  come  and  help  against 
Diarmuid.  It  was  all  in  vain,  for  Diarmuid  slew  them 


94    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

as  a  hawk  slays  sparrows,  or  a  wolf  slays  sheep.  Heavy 
at  heart  was  Fionn.  Then  Angus  went  to  Fionn, 
and  asked  him  whether  he  would  make  peace  with 
Diarmuid,  and  so  weary  and  sad  was  Fionn  that  he  said 
he  would  make  peace  with  Diarmuid.  Angus  went  to 
Grainne's  father  and  asked  him  if  he  would  make  peace 
with  Diarmuid,  and  he  said  yes.  Then  Angus  asked 
Diarmuid  if  he  were  willing  to  make  peace.  He  said  he 
was  willing  if  Fionn  would  give  him  his  father's  estate  in 
Kerry  and  another  one  as  large,  and  if  Cormac,  Grainne's 
father,  would  also  give  them  a  great  estate.  So  peace 
was  made  at  last,  and  Diarmuid  and  Grainne  lived 
happily  on  their  estate,  though  Cormac  and  the  Fenians 
remained  in  authority  over  Ireland,  and  the  Tuatha-de- 
Danann  did  not  become  kings  of  Ireland  again. 


THE  LADY  OF  LLYN  Y  FAN  FACH 

A   WELSH    STORY 

IN  a  little  valley  village,  below  the  northern  slopes  of 
the  Black  Mountains,  in  Carmarthenshire,  there  lived 
a  widow  and  her  only  son.  There  were  so  many  wood- 
lands in  the  sheltered  valley  that  her  cattle  needed  more 
grass  than  they  could  get  near  her  farm,  and  it  was  the 
custom  of  the  land  therefore  to  send  the  cattle  in  spring 
to  graze  upon  the  moorlands  of  the  Black  Mountain, 
and  her  son  went  to  mind  them.  They  found  shelter 
in  the  hollow  where  lies  the  little  mountain  lake  called 
Llyn  y  Fan  Fach. 

One  morning,  as  the  son  was  walking  by  the  margin 
of  the  lake,  he  saw,  rising  from  the  lake,  a  most  beautiful 
lady.  She  was  arranging  her  curls  by  the  aid  of  her 
reflection  in  the  water,  when  she  suddenly  beheld  the 
young  man  standing  by  the  edge  of  the  lake.  His  eyes 
were  shining  with  admiration,  and  as  she  drew  nearer 
to  him  he  held  out  to  her  the  barley  bread  and  cheese 
which  he  had  brought  with  him.  She,  however,  refused 
to  share,  and  when  he  tried  to  touch  her,  she  slipped 
from  his  grasp  exclaiming,  "  O !  thou  of  the  hard  baked 
bread,  it  is  not  easy  to  catch  me  !  "  Then  she  disappeared 
under  the  water.  The  young  man  was  so  much  dis- 
appointed that  he  did  not  know  whatever  to  do.  As 
soon  as  he  got  home,  he  told  his  mother  the  sad  story. 
She  advised  him  to  take  some  unbaked  dough  next  day, 
and  see  if  that  would  not  tempt  the  lady.  Next  day 
he  was  up  long  before  the  dawn,  and  hurried  off  to  the 
margin  of  the  lake.  Alas !  hours  passed  and  no  one 
appeared.  Suddenly  the  youth,  who  had  forgotten 

95 


96 

all  about  his  mother's  cattle,  was  startled  to  see  some  of 
them  in  great  danger  on  a  steep  slope  on  the  other  side 
of  the  lake.  He  was  hurrying  to  save  them,  when 
suddenly,  to  his  intense  delight,  he  saw  the  object  of  his 
search  rise  from  the  water  looking  even  more  lovely  than 
on  the  previous  day.  He  again  offered  her  a  share  of 
his  bread,  and  this  time  he  also  asked  her  to  marry  him. 

The  maiden  replied,  "  O  !  thou  of  the  unbaked  bread, 
I  will  not  have  thee."  Then  she  once  more  disappeared 
beneath  the  waters  of  the  lake.  This  time,  however, 
the  youth  did  not  feel  quite  so  disappointed,  for  some- 
thing in  her  smile  had  made  him  feel  that  she  would 
come  back  again. 

He  went  off  home,  and  once  more  told  his  mother 
the  story  of  the  day's  happenings.  She  suggested  that 
this  time  the  young  man  should  take  some  bakestone 
bread,  lightly  baked,  to  offer  to  the  maiden.  Very  early 
next  morning  he  rose  and  hastened  to  the  lake.  But 
dawn  passed  and  noon  also,  and  still  no  sign  of  the 
much  longed-for  lady  of  the  Llyn  y  Fan  Fach.  At  last, 
when  the  evening  was  nearly  spent,  and  the  shadows  of 
the  night  were  gathering,  the  young  man  set  out  to  go 
home.  He  turned  back,  however,  to  cast  one  more 
glance  at  the  lake.  Picture  his  surprise  and  delight 
when  he  saw  some  cattle  walking  on  the  lake  and  the 
maiden  following  them.  This  time  she  came  to  the 
shore  of  the  lake  and  smiled  at  him.  When  he  offered 
her  his  lightly  baked  bread,  she  accepted  a  share  of  it, 
and  when  he  asked  her  to  be  his  bride,  she  agreed.  The 
only  condition  that  she  made  was  that  if  he  ever  struck 
her  with  iron  she  should  return  at  once  to  her  home 
in  the  lake.  Of  course  the  young  man  thought  that 
it  was  quite  impossible  that  he  should  ever  dream  of 
striking  anyone  whom  he  loved  so  dearly,  much  less  of 
striking  her  with  iron,  so  he  readily  agreed.  Upon  this 
the  maiden  suddenly  dived  into  the  lake.  In  his  grief 
the  young  man  was  about  to  dive  in  also,  when  there 
rose  from  the  lake  two  beautiful  maidens,  accompanied 


THE  LADY  OF  LLYN  Y  FAN  FACH        97 

by  a  grey-haired  old  man  of  a  very  powerful  build.  The 
old  man  said  that  the  youth  could  marry  one  of  his 
daughters  if  he  were  able  to  choose  which  of  them  had 
spoken  to  him  before. 

They  were  so  very  much  alike  that  I  don't  suppose 
the  youth  would  have  been  able  to  choose  the  right  one, 
if  she  had  not  thrust  out  her  foot  and  thus  given  him  a 
hint.  Then  the  father  gave  him  his  daughter  as  a 
bride,  and  also  said  that  he  would  give  her  as  many 
sheep,  cattle,  goats,  and  horses  as  she  could  count 
without  stopping  for  breath.  He  warned  the  youth 
that  if  ever  he  should  be  unkind  enough  to  strike  his 
wife  with  iron,  she  would  at  once  return  to  her  home, 
and  bring  with  her  all  her  sheep,  cattle,  goats,  and  horses. 
The  maiden  then  began  to  count  as  quickly  as  she  could 
one,  two,  three,  four,  five,  and  then  one,  two,  three, 
four,  five  again,  never  going  beyond  five,  but  counting 
very  rapidly  indeed,  so  that  she  and  her  husband  started 
life  with  a  very  fine  store  of  cattle. 

For  a  long  time  they  lived  together  very  happily  near 
the  village  of  Myddfai,  and  they  had  three  very  hand- 
some sons. 

One  day  she  and  her  husband  were  going  to  ride  some- 
where, and  went  to  catch  the  ponies.  The  husband 
caught  his  own  pony,  but,  in  trying  to  catch  his  wife's 
pony,  he  threw  the  bridle  in  such  a  way  that  it  missed 
the  pony  and  struck  his  wife.  She  cast  a  reproachful 
glance  at  him,  walked  out  into  the  fields,  called  her 
cattle  and  sheep  and  goats  and  horses  together,  and 
they  all  marched  away  and  disappeared  into  the  waters 
of  the  Llyn  y  Fan  Fach. 

No  one  knows  what  became  of  the  unhappy  husband. 
The  sons,  however,  knowing  the  whole  strange  story 
of  the  way  in  which  their  father  and  mother  had  met, 
often  wandered  by  the  lake.  On  many  days  their 
mother  came  from  the  lake  to  talk  with  them.  She  told 
them  that  their  work  in  the  world  was  to  heal  sick 
people.  So  that  they  might  be  able  to  do  this,  she  would 


98    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

walk  with  them  in  the  dingle  and  show  them  the  plants 
and  herbs  which  were  good  for  various  illnesses.  In 
time  the  sons  became  so  very  skilful  in  the  use  of  healing 
herbs  that  the  fame  of  the  Physicians  of  Myddfai  spread 
far  and  wide.  They  handed  on  their  knowledge  to  their 
sons,  and  some  day,  when  you  visit  Wales,  you  must  try 
to  find  Myddfai  Church  and  see  their  graves. 


SANEHAT 

AN    EGYPTIAN    STORY 

ABOUT  two  thousand  five  hundred  years  before  Christ 
was  born,  a  very  wise  king  ruled  in  Egypt.  He  was 
named  Amen-em-hat,  which  means  "  Amen  at  the  head," 
for  Amen-Ra  was  the  great  god  whom  the  Egyptians 
then  worshipped.  He  found  Egypt  in  a  state  of  great 
disorder,  but  he  soon  put  it  in  a  state  of  peace  and 
good  order.  He  put  an  end  to  the  quarrels  between 
the  cities  and  the  small  states,  made  new  canals  to  carry 
the  Nile  water  to  the  thirsty  land,  so  that  in  his  reign 
corn  and  water  were  plentiful,  and  no  man  went  hungry 
or  thirsty.  He  kept  the  desert  tribes  from  invading  the 
country,  and  also  hunted  the  lions  and  crocodiles  which 
troubled  the  poor  folk  of  the  land. 

His  eldest  son  was  named  Senusert,  but  he  had  a 
younger  son  named  Sanehat.  Now,  when  Senusert  was 
leading  an  army  against  the  Libyans,  and  Sanehat  was 
an  officer  under  him,  news  came  that  their  father 
Amen-em-hat  was  dead.  Sanehat  was  seized  with 
terror  lest  his  elder  brother  should  kill  him  now  that 
their  father  was  dead.  His  heart  was  troubled.  His 
hands  shook,  and  his  knees  trembled  beneath  him.  He 
slipped  away  from  the  army  and  disguised  himself  as 
a  seller  of  herbs.  He  spent  a  long  night  hidden  in  a 
corner  of  a  garden,  and  made  up  his  mind  that  he  could 
never  be  a  servant  in  his  brother's  palace.  "  I  long  to 
be  free,"  said  he ;  "  there  is  no  life  but  a  free  life." 

So  he  crossed  the  river  Nile  in  a  small  boat  with  no 
rudder,  and  reached  the  eastern  bank  of  the  river. 
Then  he  came  to  the  line  of  forts  which  the  kings  of 

99 


ioo  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

Egypt  had  made  on  the  north-east  of  their  country, 
to  keep  out  enemies  from  Syria  and  Arabia.  The  sight 
of  the  watchmen  on  the  forts  filled  him  with  dread  lest 
they  should  prevent  him  from  getting  away  from  his 
brother's  kingdom  and  out  into  freedom.  All  day 
he  lay  hidden  amongst  the  bushes  and  at  night  he 
hurried  along  beneath  the  brilliant  stars,  and  an  old 
herb-seller  made  friends  with  him,  and  helped  him  to 
escape. 

Then  he  wandered  into  the  dreadful  desert  that  lies 
between  Egypt  and  Edom.  Thirst  overtook  him  so 
that  his  throat  was  parched  and  agony  came  upon  him. 
Just  as  he  was  thinking  that  this  must  be  death  coming 
upon  him,  he  heard  the  pleasant  voice  of  cattle,  and 
saw  a  stranger  from  the  east,  who  said  to  him,  "  O ! 
thou  that  art  from  Egypt,  where  art  thou  travelling  ?  " 
The  stranger  treated  him  kindly,  giving  him  water  and 
warm  milk,  and  took  him  home  to  his  tribe.  When 
he  was  strong  again  Sanehat  bade  goodbye  to  the 
friendly  stranger  and  passed  on  into  Edom,  and  thence 
to  Syria. 

A  Chief  here  liked  Sanehat  so  much  that  he  begged 
him  to  stay  with  him.  He  gave  Sanehat  the  most 
fertile  piece  of  land  in  all  the  district,  and  he  married  his 
eldest  daughter  to  him.  The  land  was  very  pleasant. 
There  were  vines  and  fig  trees,  palms  and  olives,  barley 
and  wheat.  Moreover  there  was  much  sweet  honey 
and  pleasant  fruit  of  many  different  kinds.  Cattle,  too, 
were  plentiful.  Sanehat  had  plenty  of  milk  in  pails 
every  day,  and  wine  and  flesh  and  fowl  were  brought 
to  him,  so  that  he  and  his  children  and  his  servants, 
and  even  his  dogs,  had  more  than  they  could  eat.  In 
return  for  the  kindness  of  the  Chief,  Sanehat  put  a  stop 
to  the  attacks  of  enemy  tribes,  so  that  the  people  could 
gather  their  harvest  and  tend  their  vines  and  fruit 
trees  in  peace.  He  put  down  highway  robbers,  and 
made  the  neighbouring  tribes  share  their  pastures  with 
the  Chief  and  himself.  The  Chief  loved  him  dearly, 


SANEHAT  101 

and  very  often  they  talked  together  of  the  wonders  of 
Egypt.  For  Sanehat,  in  spite  of  all  his  good  fortune 
with  these  Arab  tribes,  loved  Egypt  still,  and  longed 
for  its  comfort  and  luxury  in  place  of  the  rougher  Arab 
life.  Often  Sanehat  talked  of  his  father,  Amen-em-hat, 
and  of  the  wealth  and  beauty  of  the  great  palace  of  the 
King  of  Egypt. 

Sanehat  never  forgot  that  he  had  been  a  thirsty 
wanderer  in  the  desert,  and  any  man  who  came  to  his 
door  was  sure  of  water  and  milk  to  quench  his  thirst, 
and  of  a  guide  to  set  him  on  the  right  way.  He  was, 
however,  a  fierce  foe  to  those  who  tried  to  wrong  him. 
Once  a  mighty  man  of  the  Chief's  tribe  became  jealous 
of  Sanehat,  and  challenged  him  to  fight.  The  friendly 
Chief  was  afraid  lest  Sanehat  should  be  killed,  for  his 
enemy  was  a  mighty  giant.  But  Sanehat  said,  "  If  his 
desire  is  to  fight,  let  him.  Doth  God  forget  like  those 
that  are  dead  ?  " 

Then  he  got  ready  his  bow  and  arrows,  and  sharpened 
his  dagger,  and  went  forth  to  face  the  giant.  All  the 
tribe  gathered  to  see  the  fight,  and  the  women  were  very 
sorry  for  Sanehat,  and  thought  it  pitiful  to  see  him  going 
to  his  death.  But  none  of  the  giants'  arrows  pierced 
him,  and  Sanehat  hurled  a  javelin  and  struck  the  giant 
in  the  neck.  He  fell  upon  his  face  calling  for  mercy, 
so  Sanehat  put  a  chain  upon  him,  and  took  all  his  treasure 
and  wealth  and  cattle  from  him. 

Sanehat  said,  "  God  hath  been  gracious  to  me,  whom 
he  drove  out  into  another  land.  His  heart  has  been 
mild  like  the  sun.  Naked  and  hungry  and  thirsty,  I 
fled  from  my  homeland.  Now  I  am  clothed  in  fine 
linen,  and  can  give  bread  to  the  hungry.  What  more  is 
there  to  desire  ?  Alas !  I  long  to  return  home  to  be 
buried  in  the  land  where  I  was  born.  Grant  me  this, 
for  have  not  I  suffered  much  ?  " 

Then  he  wrote  to  his  royal  brother  in  Egypt,  telling 
him  that  now  old  age  was  coming  upon  him,  he  longed 
for  home.  He  longed  for  the  streams  of  his  native 


102  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

land  to  refresh  his  weary  limbs.  He  longed  that  his 
body  should  be  buried  in  the  land  where  his  heart  had 
always  lived. 

Senusert  was  pleased  to  hear  again  from  his  brother 
and  old  comrade  in  the  wars.  He  sent  him  many 
presents  and  a  kind  greeting,  telling  him  that  he  would 
be  warmly  welcomed  back  to  Egypt.  He  told  Sanehat 
to  leave  his  wealth  behind  him,  and  to  come  to  the 
palace  of  the  King,  his  brother,  and  to  bow  down  to 
him.  Senusert  promised  that  if  Sanehat  would  do 
this,  he  should  be  made  a  chief  of  the  nobles  in  Egypt. 
What  pleased  Sanehat  most  was  that  Senusert  promised 
him  a  proper  burial.  Egyptians  at  that  time  believed 
that  it  made  a  great  difference  to  them  in  the  next 
world  if  their  bodies  were  properly  buried.  This  is 
what  Senusert  promised  Sanehat  in  his  letter.  "  When 
thou  diest,  they  shall  embalm  thy  body  and  wrap  it  in 
fine  bandages.  They  shall  follow  thy  gilded  mummy 
case,  with  its  head  painted  blue,  and  a  canopy  of  acacia 
wood  spread  over  thee.  The  oxen  shall  draw  thee 
along,  and  women  shall  sit  at  the  door  of  thy  tomb  and 
pray  for  thee.  There  shall  be  put  in  thy  tomb  beasts 
for  thee  to  hunt,  and  instruments  shall  be  played  for 
thee.  Thou  shalt  not  be  wrapped  in  a  sheepskin  and 
buried  by  strangers  in  a  distant  land." 

Sanehat  was  so  overjoyed  that  he  was  like  one  gone 
mad.  He  threw  himself  upon  the  earth  and  touched 
the  soil  and  cried  out  that  the  great  King  of  Egypt,  the 
Deliverer,  had  been  kind  to  him,  and  would  let  him 
return  once  more  to  his  home.  The  rest  of  the  day  he 
spent  in  dividing  his  slaves  and  cattle,  his  fruit  trees  and 
his  woods  of  dates  between  his  children.  On  the  morrow 
he  said  farewell  to  his  kind  Arab  friends,  who  followed 
him  for  a  long  way,  shouting  farewell  and  good  wishes 
for  his  journey.  Then  Sanehat  was  escorted  back  to 
Egypt  by  the  men  whom  his  brother  had  sent.  He  came 
at  last  to  his  beloved  country,  and  his  brother's  children 
were  waiting  on  the  walls  to  greet  him.  He  was  guided 


SANEHAT  103 

to  the  palace,  where  he  found  his  brother  in  the  old  place 
of  the  kings  of  Egypt,  in  a  golden  pavilion. 

Sanehat  threw  himself  down  before  his  brother,  and 
hailed  him  as  a  god  as  well  as  a  king.  Senusert  spoke 
kindly  to  him,  telling  him  that  he  had  made  a  famous 
name  for  himself  abroad,  and  that  he  had  nothing  to 
fear.  Then  he  gave  Sanehat  many  jewels,  and  told  him 
that  from  that  time  onward  he  should  be  a  councillor, 
and  a  great  man  in  Egypt,  and  that  the  royal  children 
only  should  be  his  equals. 

Then  Sanehat  was  taken  to  a  great  palace,  which  was 
to  be  his  home.  There  were  treasures  in  it,  and  a  great 
cool  fountain.  The  king  sent  him  soft  delicate  garments 
from  his  own  store,  and  spices  to  bathe  his  limbs.  Instead 
of  sleeping  on  the  ground,  he  lay  once  more  on  a  soft 
couch.  Choice  and  delicate  foods  were  brought  to  him 
whenever  he  wished. 

As  soon  as  ever  he  had  settled  in  his  new  home,  Sane- 
hat  began  to  build  himself  a  great  stone  tomb.  His 
brother,  the  King,  chose  the  best  place  for  it,  and 
ordered  the  best  painter  and  the  best  sculptor  to 
decorate  it.  King  Senusert  also  sent  for  fine  stone  and 
precious  woods  from  other  countries  to  be  used  in 
Sanehat's  tomb,  and  caused  an  image  of  Sanehat  in  pure 
gold  to  be  put  at  the  entrance.  So  Sanehat's  life  ended 
pleasantly,  for  he  and  his  brother  remained  good 
friends  till  death  parted  them. 


GUDEA,  PATESI  OF  LAGASH 

A   STORY    FROM    BABYLONIA 

IN  the  land  that  lies  between  Babylon  and  the  Persian 
Gulf  there  had  been  a  great  deal  of  suffering,  for  no 
rain  had  fallen  for  many  months.  The  water  in  the 
streams  was  so  low  that  the  canals  that  carried  water  to 
the  crops  in  the  fields  were  nearly  all  quite  dry.  This 
meant  that  there  would  be  a  dreadful  famine  in  the 
land,  and  Gudea,  its  prince,  was  in  despair.  He  grieved 
by  day  and  by  night  because  his  country  was  being 
ruined,  and  his  people  were  dying  of  hunger  and  thirst, 
and  many  were  the  prayers  he  offered  to  the  gods. 

Now  one  night  he  had  a  very  strange  dream.  He 
dreamt  that  he  saw  a  figure  so  tall  that  he  seemed  to 
fill  the  heaven  and  earth.  Upon  his  head  was  a  crown, 
and  by  his  side  was  an  eagle  ;  his  feet  rested  upon  the 
whirlwind,  and  on  either  side  of  him  crouched  a  lion. 
The  figure  spoke  to  Gudea,  but  he  could  not  understand 
the  meaning  of  the  words  it  used.  As  Gudea  gazed,  the 
sun  arose  from  the  earth,  and  by  its  light  he  beheld  a 
woman  holding  a  reed  in  one  hand,  while  in  the  other 
was  a  tablet  on  which  was  a  star  of  the  heavens.  Then 
came  a  second  man  armed  like  a  warrior,  who  carried 
a  slab  of  that  beautiful  blue  stone  called  lapis  lazuli, 
and  on  it  he  drew  the  plan  of  a  temple. 

A  beautiful  cushion  was  placed  in  front  of  Gudea, 
and  upon  the  cushion  was  a  mould,  and  within  the 
mould  was  a  brick,  the  brick  of  destiny.  On  the  right 
hand  an  ass  lay  upon  the  ground. 

Such  was  Gudea's  dream,  and  he  was  greatly  troubled 
because  he  could  not  think  what  it  meant.  Now  the 

104 


GUDEA,  PATESI  OF  LAGASH  105 

goddess  Nina  understood  the  wishes  of  the  gods,  and 
could  explain  these  strange  dreams  if  she  would.  So 
first  of  all  Gudea  went  to  the  temple  of  the  god  and 
goddess  who  were  Nina's  brother  and  sister.  He  made 
a  sacrifice  and  poured  out  fresh  water,  and  cried  out, 
"  I  have  no  mother,  but  thou  art  my  mother ;  I  have 
no  father,  but  thou  art  my  father."  Their  reply  to  his 
prayer  was  so  favourable  that  Gudea  set  out  for  the 
temple  of  the  goddess  Nina.  Here  he  made  a  sacrifice 
and  poured  out  fresh  water  as  he  had  done  before. 

Then  he  told  the  goddess  exactly  what  he  had  seen 
in  his  dream,  and  begged  her  to  tell  him  what  it  meant. 
She  replied  that  the  man  who  was  so  tall,  and  upon 
whose  head  was  a  crown,  and  by  whose  side  were  the 
eagle  and  the  lions,  was  her  brother,  the  god  Ningirsu. 
The  words  that  he  had  said  were  an  order  to  the  prince 
to  build  a  new  temple.  The  maiden  who  carried  the 
reed  and  the  tablet  with  the  star  was  a  goddess  who  was 
Nina's  sister.  The  star  was  the  pure  star  of  the  building 
of  the  new  temple.  The  warrior  was  another  god,  and 
the  plan  that  he  was  drawing  was  the  plan  of  the  new 
temple.  The  brick  in  the  mould  on  the  cushion  was 
the  sacred  brick  of  the  new  temple.  As  for  the  ass 
upon  the  ground,  that,  said  the  goddess,  was  Prince 
Gudea  himself  ! 

Then  Nina  began  to  tell  Gudea  how  to  set  about 
building  the  temple.  She  told  him  first  of  all  to  go  to 
his  treasure  house  and  bring  certain  offerings  from  his 
sealed  treasure  cases.  These  were  to  be  the  offerings  : — 
A  chariot  adorned  with  pure  metal  and  precious  stones  ; 
bright  arrows  in  a  quiver  ;  the  weapon  of  the  god,  on 
which  Gudea  was  to  inscribe  his  own  name  ;  and  a 
lyre,  so  that  its  music  could  soothe  the  god. 

Gudea  at  once  brought  out  his  treasures  of  precious 
woods  and  metals,  and  called  together  the  cleverest  of 
his  craftsmen,  who  worked  day  and  night  to  make  the 
chariot  and  the  arrows  and  the  weapon  and  the  lyre. 
When  they  were  finished,  he  set  them  in  Ningirsu's 


io6  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

temple  near  to  the  god.  Then  he  also  spread  out  as 
offerings  a  fat  sheep,  a  kid,  and  the  skin  of  a  young  kid. 
Then  he  built  a  fire  of  cypress  and  cedar  and  other  sweet 
smelling  woods,  and  prayed  to  the  god  to  give  him  a 
sign  that  he  wished  to  have  a  new  temple  built  by 
Gudea. 

The  god  Ningirsu  was  pleased,  and  told  Prince  Gudea 
exactly  how  he  wished  the  new  temple  to  be  made,  and 
said  that  he  wished  Gudea,  and  no  other,  to  build  it 
for  him.  The  god  also  promised  that  when  Gudea  had 
built  the  temple,  the  land  should  be  wealthy  once  more, 
for  Ningirsu  would  send  a  wind,  and  on  that  day  the 
waters  would  fall  from  the  heavens,  the  waters  in  the 
ditches  and  canals  would  rise  and  water  would  gush 
out  from  the  dry  clefts  in  the  ground.  The  great 
fields  would  once  more  produce  their  crops,  oil  would 
be  plentiful  again,  and  wool  should  be  weighed  in 
abundance. 

On  that  day  the  god  himself  would  go  to  the  mountain 
and  would  send  forth  the  wind,  which  should  give  the 
land  the  breath  of  life,  so  Gudea  must  work  night  and 
day  to  get  the  temple  built. 

One  set  of  men  were  to  work  at  the  temple  by  day. 
Another  set  were  to  work  all  night  by  the  aid  of  great 
lights,  which  made  the  plain  as  bright  as  day.  Wood- 
men were  to  go  to  the  mountains  and  cut  down  cedars 
and  pines  and  bring  their  trunks  to  the  city.  Masons 
were  to  go  to  the  mountains  and  hew  out  great  blocks 
of  stones  and  bring  them  to  the  city.  When  the  god  had 
finished  speaking,  Prince  Gudea  felt  as  if  his  side  had 
been  touched  by  a  flame  and  by  this  sign  he  knew  that 
he  was  the  man  chosen  by  the  god  to  build  the  new 
temple. 

During  the  building  of  the  temple  all  the  people  in 
the  city  tried  to  be  as  good  and  pure  as  they  possibly 
could,  so  that  no  sin  should  stain  their  new  temple.  No 
master  struck  his  servant  in  anger ;  no  mistress  slapped 
her  servant's  face,  however  angry  she  might  feel.  All 


GUDEA,  PATESI  OF  LAGASH  107 

the  evil  people  were  driven  out  of  the  city,  and  those 
who  were  left  prayed  and  worked  by  day  and  night,  and 
tried  to  be  as  good  and  pure  and  kind  as  possible,  so 
that  they  might  please  the  gods  and  save  their  beloved 
country  from  famine  and  drought. 

Then  Gudea  cut  a  road  into  a  cedar  forest  on  the 
mountains  where  no  man  had  ever  been  before,  and 
another  road  to  the  quarries  on  the  hills.  Here  great 
blocks  of  stone  were  hewn  out  and  put  in  barges  to  be 
carried  to  the  city.  Other  barges  brought  plaster  and 
copper  and  lead  and  powdered  gold  and  silver  and 
marble  from  the  mountains,  so  that  the  temple  might 
be  rich  and  beautiful.  At  last  the  only  other  materials 
needed  were  the  sun-dried  bricks,  of  which  it  was 
chiefly  made.  In  order  to  get  the  brick  just  as  the  god 
wished  it,  Prince  Gudea  rose  at  dawn,  washed  himself 
very  carefully,  and  offered  a  bull  and  a  goat  as  sacrifices 
to  the  god.  Then  he  took  the  sacred  mould  and  the 
fair  cushion  on  which  it  rested,  and  poured  an  offering 
into  the  mould.  Then  he  offered  honey  and  butter 
and  burnt  incense,  and  placed  the  cushion  with  the 
mould  on  it  upon  his  head,  and  walked  thus  to  the 
place  where  the  first  brick  was  to  be  made.  There 
he  placed  clay  in  the  mould,  shaped  it  into  a  brick, 
sprinkled  oil  of  cedar  wood  around,  and  left  it  in  the 
temple.  At  dawn  next  day,  Gudea  broke  the  mould 
and  placed  the  brick  in  the  sun  to  dry.  Now  the  Sun 
God  was  pleased  with  the  pattern  of  the  brick,  so  Prince 
Gudea  was  filled  with  joy,  and  all  the  other  bricks  were 
made  on  the  same  pattern  as  this  sacred  brick.  So  the 
temple  was  built,  and  rose  to  heaven  like  a  mountain, 
or  a  cedar  tree  growing  in  the  desert.  One  of  the  doors 
of  the  temple  was  guarded  by  a  figure  of  the  hero  who 
slew  a  monster  with  six  heads,  at  another  door  was  a  good 
dragon,  and  at  another  a  lion.  Opposite  the  city  were 
set  the  figures  of  its  seven  heroes,  and  facing  the  rising 
sun  was  the  emblem  of  the  Sun  God. 

Around  the  temple  were  outhouses  and  pens  for  the 


io8  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

oxen  and  sheep  which  were  kept  for  sacrifices  and  feasts. 
There  were  store  houses  for  grain  and  spices,  and  treasure 
houses  for  precious  stones,  and  gold  and  silver  and  lead. 
There  was  also  a  beautiful  garden  covered  with  vines, 
and  two  great  reservoirs  for  water,  and  a  special  place  for 
the  sacred  doves. 

At  last  the  temple  was  finished,  and  all  that  remained 
to  be  done  was  to  move  the  great  god  from  the  old 
temple  to  the  beautiful  new  one.  The  ground  was 
sprinkled  with  oil.  Offerings  of  honey  and  butter,  and 
wine,  and  grain  mixed  with  milk,  and  dates  were  set 
out  as  food  for  the  gods.  Black  sheep  and  sacred  cows 
were  brought  into  the  temple  pens,  and  all  the  people 
of  the  city  flung  themselves  on  the  ground  in  prayer  as 
Ningirsu  was  taken  to  his  new  home.  Around  the  great 
god  were  placed  the  lesser  gods,  who  were  to  look  after 
the  various  things  which  helped  to  keep  the  city  great — 
one  to  make  the  plains  fertile,  one  to  stock  the  river  with 
fish,  one  to  keep  the  store  houses  filled  with  grain,  one 
to  care  for  the  cattle,  one  to  care  for  the  making  of  canals 
to  carry  water  to  the  parched  land,  and  so  on.  Other 
gods  had  to  care  for  Ningirsu  himself,  and  amongst  these 
was  one  who  tended  the  ass  that  drew  the  sacred,  shining 
chariot  of  the  god.  The  ass  was  a  sacred  beast  and  a 
very  beautiful  one,  for  in  that  country  at  that  time 
horses  were  unknown,  so  asses  were  held  in  great  honour. 

For  seven  days  after  the  new  temple  was  opened,  the 
people  feasted  and  held  high  holiday.  Great  was  their 
joy  when  the  building  of  this  beautiful  temple  was 
followed  by  a  season  of  plenty.  The  streams  were  full 
of  water,  the  fields  were  rich  in  crops,  the  flocks  and 
herds  increased  greatly,  and  justice  was  bright  in  the 
clear  sunlight.  Prince  Gudea  was  so  very  pleased  that 
his  land  was  saved  from  drought  and  famine,  and  that 
he  had  been  chosen  to  build  this  beautiful  temple,  that 
he  ordered  the  whole  story  of  his  wonderful  dream  and 
its  results  to  be  printed  on  baked  clay.  The  two  pieces 
of  baked  clay  on  which  his  story  is  written  were  found 


GUDEA,  PATESI  OF  LAGASH  109 

about  fifty  years  ago  and  brought  to  Paris,  where  they 
may  still  be  seen.  For  a  long  time  people  were  not  able 
to  read  them,  and  that  is  not  to  be  wondered  at — for 
they  were  written  more  than  4000  years  ago  in  a  way 
that  seems  very  strange  to  us. 

But  fourteen  years  ago  a  very  clever  scholar  found 
out  the  meaning  of  the  writing,  and  that  is  why  you 
are  able  to  read  this  story  of  that  long  distant  time, 
when  perhaps  the  very  first  writing  in  the  world  was 
being  made  and  printed  on  the  clay  baked  in  the  hot 
sun  of  the  lands  north  of  the  Persian  Gulf. 


THE  SONS  OF  PANDU 

A   HINDU   STORY 

THIS  is  a  story  of  what  was  happening  in  Northern  India 
at  the  time  when  invaders  from  the  Rhine  valley  were 
bringing  the  leaf-shaped  bronze  swords  to  the  east  of 
Britain. 

The  southern  part  of  India,  and  the  jungle  and  forest 
of  the  north,  had  been  inhabited  by  dark-skinned  peoples 
for  untold  centuries,  when  certain  fair-skinned  tribes 
began  to  find  their  way  into  the  basins  of  the  Indus  and 
the  Ganges,  through  gaps  in  the  mountains  of  North- 
West  India.  The  newcomers  not  only  peopled  the 
grass  lands,  but,  as  they  had  learnt  the  use  of  iron,  they 
were  able  to  clear  away  the  jungles  and  forests,  and  to 
plant  their  villages  and  towns  in  the  clearings.  Pandu 
was  king  of  a  tribe  which  had  been  settled  for  some 
time  around  the  sources  of  the  Sarsuti,  Jumna,  and 
Ganges  rivers,  on  the  borders  of  the  grass  land  and  the 
forest.  His  capital  was  Hastinapura,  the  "  City  of  the 
Elephant,"  and  it  lay  about  sixty  miles  north-east  of 
Delhi.  The  ruins  of  this  town  may  be  seen  to-day  near 
an  old  bed  of  the  Ganges  river. 

Pandu  was  under  a  curse,  which  had  forced  him  to 
give  up  his  kingdom.  He  spent  the  rest  of  his  life  as  a 
wanderer  in  the  wild  jungles  on  the  slopes  of  Himalaya. 
His  blind  brother,  Dhritarashtra,  became  King  in  his 
place,  and  as  he  was  very  fond  of  his  nephews,  the  sons 
of  Pandu,  he  allowed  them  to  be  brought  up  with  his 
own  sons,  the  Kurus.  At  that  time,  people  in  India 
valued  sons  much  more  than  wealth,  and  Dhritarashtra 

no 


THE  SONS  OF  PANDU  in 

thought  himself  very  fortunate,  for  he  had  a  hundred 
sons. 

As  time  went  on,  people  in  the  Elephant  City  learnt 
to  love  and  admire  the  sons  of  Pandu  very  much.  They 
were  very  brave  and  very  skilful  in  the  use  of  bow  and 
arrow,  and  in  fighting  from  cars  and  horseback,  or 
elephant  back.  The  greatest  favourite  was  Yudhish- 
thira,  the  eldest,  for  he  was  both  brave  and  patient, 
honest,  and  kind.  King  Dhritarashtra  was  so  pleased 
with  him  that  he  chose  him  as  his  heir-apparent,  passing 
over  his  own  eldest  son,  Duryodhana.  Yudhishthira 
gave  all  his  time  and  strength  to  helping  his  uncle  to 
rule  Hastinapura  and  the  district  around  it  well,  while 
his  brothers  went  on  expeditions  against  all  the  neigh- 
bouring tribes,  and  made  them  own  Dhritarashtra  as 
their  overlord. 

But  when  Dhritarashtra  saw  that  the  Pandavas  were 
getting  too  powerful,  he  began  to  listen  to  the  com- 
plaints of  his  own  eldest  son,  Duryodhana,  and  at  last 
they  agreed  on  a  cruel  plan  for  getting  rid  of  the  five 
Pandavas  and  their  mother.  They  made  up  their 
minds  to  set  fire  by  night  to  the  wooden  house  where 
the  sons  of  Pandu  and  their  mother  were  sleeping, 
and  thus  to  destroy  them  all.  Fortunately,  someone 
told  the  Pandavas  of  the  cruel  plot,  and  brought  a  boat 
fitted  with  sails  and  able  to  withstand  both  wind  and 
wave.  'The  Pandavas  and  their  mother  hastily  and 
secretly  left  the  house,  reached  the  bank  of  the  Ganges, 
stepped  into  the  boat,  and  were  rowed  to  the  other  side 
by  their  faithful  friend,  who  then  left  them.  It  was  a 
happy  chance  that  the  boatman's  arms  were  strong  to 
row,  the  wind  was  favourable,  and  the  current  of  the 
river  swift,  so  that  they  escaped  unseen. 

Stepping  from  the  boat,  they  set  out  towards  the 
south,  finding  their  way  in  the  night  by  the  light  of  the 
brilliant  stars.  Bhima,  the  strongest  of  the  five  brothers, 
took  his  tired  mother  on  his  own  shoulders,  and,  after 
much  suffering,  weary,  and  thirsty,  they  reached  the 


ii2  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

shelter  of  a  dense  forest.  Stepping  in  front  the  mighty 
Bhima  trampled  down  the  young  trees  and  the  creepers, 
and  made  a  path  for  his  brothers.  As  they  wandered 
farther  into  the  heart  of  the  forest,  the  twilight  deepened, 
and  the  terrible  cries  of  birds  and  beasts  of  prey  were 
the  only  sounds  which  broke  the  silence.  Sometimes 
they  went  through  forests  where  streams  were  flowing, 
across  which  they  had  to  swim.  At  other  times,  they 
found  themselves  in  a  terrible  forest  where  water  was 
scarce  and  where  there  were  no  fruits  and  roots  for  food. 
They  disguised  themselves  as  beggars,  allowed  their 
hair  to  become  matted,  and  clothed  themselves  with  the 
bark  of  trees  and  the  skins  of  animals.  They  wandered 
in  this  way  through  all  the  kingdoms  that  lay  on  the 
southern  bank  of  the  Ganges. 

Then,  they  heard  that  the  king  of  a  district  called 
South  Panchala  (which  was  probably  the  country  round 
the  modern  Kanauj),  was  going  to  hold  a  great  trial  of 
skill  for  princes  and  warriors.  The  feat  to  be  performed 
was  the  bending  of  a  mighty  bow,  and  the  reward  was 
to  be  the  hand  of  the  Princess  Draupadi.  The  Pandavas 
made  up  their  minds  to  go  and  try  their  skill  in  the 
Panchala  capital.  They  did  not  yet  dare  to  throw  off 
their  disguise,  so  they  entered  the  city  as  begging 
Brahmans,  clad  in  the  bark  of  trees  and  with  matted 
locks.  They  took  up  their  abode  in  the  house  of  a 
potter  and  awaited  the  great  day.  Among  the  many 
princes  who  came  to  try  for  Draupadi's  hand,  were 
Duryodhana  and  the  Kurus,  but  they  did  not  recognize 
the  Pandavas  in  their  humble  garb. 

At  last,  the  much  longed-for  day  arrived,  and  Drau- 
padi, richly  clothed  and  adorned  with  jewels,  entered  the 
amphitheatre  where  the  trial  was  to  take  place,  bearing 
in  her  hand  a  golden  dish  with  offerings  for  the  gods,  and 
a  garland  of  flowers.  Then  the  sacrificial  fire  was  lit, 
and  clarified  butter  poured  on  to  it  as  an  offering  to 
Agni,  the  god  of  fire.  The  musical  instruments  were  all 
hushed,  and  a  great  stillness  fell  on  the  crowd  that  had 


THE  SONS  OF  PANDU  113 

assembled.  The  brother  of  Draupadi  took  her  by  the 
hand  and  said,  "  Hear,  ye  assembled  kings :  This  is  the 
bow.  That  is  the  mark.  These  are  the  arrows.  Truly 
do  I  say  that  that  prince  of  royal  lineage  and  fine  person, 
who  can  hit  the  mark,  shall  this  day  obtain  my  sister 
as  his  wife." 

One  after  another  the  mighty  princes  tried  to  bend 
the  bow,  and  one  after  another  they  failed  and  fell  to 
the  ground  exhausted.  Then  Arjuna,  still  dressed  in 
the  deerskin  of  a  Brahman  beggar,  stepped  forward. 
Some  mocked  at  the  idea  of  a  Brahman  beggar  succeeding 
when  kings  and  princes  had  failed.  Others  said,  "  This 
handsome  youth  is  even  like  the  trunk  of  a  mighty 
elephant.  In  patience  and  quiet  and  strength,  he 
looks  like  Himalaya.  His  walk  is  like  that  of  an  untamed 
lion.  He  will  accomplish  this  great  feat." 

Then  Arjuna  approached  the  bow,  and  strung  it  in  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye,  and  taking  up  the  five  arrows,  he 
shot  the  mark.  Upon  that  arose  a  wild  uproar  and 
cheering.  Flowers  were  showered  upon  the  victor  ; 
the  musicians  struck  up  in  concert,  and  the  bards  began 
to  chant  the  praises  of  Arjuna. 

But  when  the  King  was  about  to  bestow  his  daughter 
upon  the  successful  archer,  the  defeated  princes  declared 
that  it  was  not  fitting  that  they  should  be  passed  over 
and  a  humble  Brahman  beggar  chosen.  A  fierce  fight 
broke  out,  but  the  Pandavas  succeeded  in  carrying  off 
Draupadi  as  their  bride. 

The  news  reached  the  Kuru  Princes,  who  were  cheer- 
less indeed  when  they  learnt  that  the  sons  of  Pandu, 
instead  of  being  burnt  to  death  had  lived  to  win  Drau- 
padi as  their  bride,  and  they  returned  to  Hastinapura 
in  a  very  evil  mood.  But  their  father,  Dhritarashtra, 
could  not  help  rejoicing  that  his  brother's  children  were 
not  dead.  Besides,  he  felt  that,  as  they  had  allied 
themselves  with  the  King  of  the  Panchala  kingdom, 
which  was  quite  close  to  his  own,  it  would  be  wise  to 
make  friends  with  them. 


ii4  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

So  Dhritarashtra  sent  for  the  brothers,  and  gave 
them  a  part  of  his  kingdom  on  the  Jumna  River,  which 
was  at  that  time  an  unreclaimed  waste.  They  cleared 
the  forest  by  setting  fire  to  it,  and,  riding  on  their  cars, 
they  waited  till  the  beasts  tried  to  escape  from  the 
burning  jungle.  Then,  as  wolves  and  bears,  elephants 
and  tigers,  deer  and  buffaloes  rushed  out,  the  Pandavas 
and  their  army  attacked  them  with  stones  and  arrows, 
and  slew  them  easily,  for  they  were  half  suffocated  by 
the  smoke  and  dazed  with  fright  at  finding  themselves  in 
the  light  open  space  instead  of  in  their  shady  jungle 
retreat. 

When  they  had  cleared  a  space,  they  measured  out 
land  for  a  city  called  Indraprasthra,  which  stood  where 
Delhi  now  stands.  Yudhishthira  and  his  brothers  ruled 
their  kingdom  so  wisely  that  Indraprasthra  soon  became 
a  great  city.  Learned  Brahmanas  who  knew  the  Vedas, 
and  who  could  speak  many  languages,  settled  there  as 
teachers.  Merchants  came  from  all  parts  of  India  to 
settle  there  and  carry  on  trade,  and  many  workmen, 
skilled  in  every  kind  of  handicraft,  came  there  to 
live. 

While  Yudhishthira  remained  in  his  capital,  Indra- 
prasthra, and  ruled  his  kingdom  wisely,  his  brothers 
went  on  warlike  expeditions  against  the  neighbouring 
tribes.  Arjuna  conquered  the  north-western  tribes, 
even  as  far  as  Kashmir,  and  made  them  give  as  tribute 
to  his  brother  Yudhishthira,  cloths  and  silks  of  fine,  soft 
texture,  and  silks,  and  horses,  some  of  the  hue  of  the 
parrot's  breast,  and  some  of  the  hue  of  the  peacock's. 
Bhima  marched  against  the  Kosala  kingdom  with  a 
mighty  host  of  elephant  and  horse  and  car  warriors. 
He  overcame  the  Kosalas,  and  pushed  on  eastward  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Ganges.  Here  he  forced  the  kings  of 
all  the  tribes  dwelling  in  that  marshy  country  to  give  him 
tribute  of  sandal  wood  and  aloes,  cloths  and  gems,  pearls 
and  blankets,  and  gold  and  silver  and  corals.  A  third 
brother  marched  as  far  south  as  Madras,  and  took  so 


THE  SONS  OF  PANDU  115 

many  jewels  and  gems  and  so  much  wealth,  that  it  took 
ten  thousand  camels  to  carry  it  back  to  Indraprasthra. 

Yudhishthira  was  now  so  wealthy  and  so  fortunate 
that  he  decided  to  hold  a  great  sacrifice,  as  a  thanks- 
giving to  the  gods.  All  the  kings  of  the  neighbouring 
state  were  invited,  and  amongst  them  Duryodhana  and 
the  Kurus.  Now  the  Pandavas  had  become  so  wealthy 
that  the  palace  at  Indraprasthra  was  much  finer  than 
Dhritarashtra's  palace  at  Hastinapura.  Then,  too,  the 
Pandavas  were  nearer  to  the  south  of  India,  where  dwelt 
tribes  who  had  traded  with  other  nations,  and  had 
learnt  the  use  of  many  things  of  which  the  Kurus  were 
ignorant.  Yudhishthira  had  become  very  friendly  with 
some  of  these  native  races,  and  they  had  helped  him  to 
build  a  wonderful  hall,  in  which  there  was  a  great  deal 
of  glass. 

Now  Duryodhana,  in  going  over  the  palace,  came  to 
a  crystal  surface.  As  he  had  never  seen  crystal  in  his 
palace  at  Hastinapura,  he  thought  it  was  water,  and 
drew  up  his  skirts  lest  they  should  get  wet.  Afterwards 
he  mistook  some  real  water  for  crystal,  and  fell  into  it 
with  all  his  clothes  on.  Then  the  servants  began  to 
laugh.  Just  after  that  he  came  to  a  crystal  door,  and 
mistaking  it  for  an  open  space,  bumped  his  head  badly, 
and  then  mistaking  a  space  for  a  crystal  door,  he  tried 
to  push  it  open  with  both  his  hands,  and  fell  full  length 
upon  the  floor.  Then  Duryodhana,  pale  with  rage,  and 
furious  at  the  laughter  of  the  servants  and  the  Pandavas, 
left  the  palace  determined  to  ruin  Yudhishthira  and 
his  brothers. 

He  knew  that  open  war  was  useless,  for  Yudhishthira 
had  a  larger  army  than  the  Kurus,  and  he  had  so  much 
wealth  that  it  would  be  easy  for  him  to  pay  other  soldiers 
to  help  him.  Moreover,  the  tribes  around  owned 
Yudhishthira  as  their  overlord,  and  brought  him  presents 
of  all  kinds.  Here  is  a  list  of  some  of  the  gifts  brought 
to  the  great  Pandava  king  : — Skins,  blankets  of  wool, 
rugs  made  of  the  soft  fur  of  mice  and  other  animals  that 


n6  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

live  in  holes,  rugs  made  with  the  hair  of  cats  and 
embroidered  with  gold,  wild  horses  red  as  the  cochineal, 
asses  from  the  coast  of  Bengal,  asses  fattened  upon 
olives,  camels,  slave  girls,  golden  vessels  filled  with 
clarified  butter,  deer  skins,  goats,  cattle,  honey,  jewels, 
swords  with  ivory  handles,  studded  with  diamonds  and 
gems,  much  fine  gold,  clothes  made  from  jute  and  from 
the  thread  of  insects,  scimitars,  hatchets,  fine-edged 
battleaxes  made  in  the  western  countries,  perfumes, 
carpets,  beds,  chariots,  tiger  skins,  elephant  blankets, 
arrows  (long  and  short),  long  brushes  made  by  the 
mountain  tribes,  rare  animals  and  birds,  strong  elephants 
and  elephant  cars  decked  with  gold,  fragrant  sandal 
juice,  lapis  lazuli,  cows  with  vessels  of  white  copper 
for  their  milk,  jars  of  pure  water,  bullocks,  whose  horns 
were  plated  with  gold,  and  an  umbrella  to  hold  over  the 
King's  head  in  the  hot  sun. 

All  this  made  Duryodhana  and  the  Kurus  so  jealous 
that  they  made  a  wicked  plot,  through  which  Yudhish- 
thira  and  his  brothers  lost  their  kingdom,  and  through 
which  war  broke  out  among  all  the  small  kingdoms  that 
had  sprung  up  in  this  part  of  India.  Many  fierce 
battles  were  fought  on  the  plains  round  Hastinapura. 
The  Pandava  troops  marched  to  battle  with  the  sound 
of  the  neighing  of  steeds,  the  roaring  of  elephants, 
the  clatter  of  car  wheels,  the  blare  of  conches,  the 
roll  of  drums.  The  King  also  took  with  him  carts, 
food  stores  and  fodder,  tents,  cash  chests,  arrows  and 
weapons,  and  doctors.  The  troops  had  to  take  timber 
and  planks  to  repair  the  cars,  quivers  of  arrows,  tiger 
skins  and  other  stiff  leather  for  the  sides  of  the  cars, 
poisoned  spears,  heavy  wooden  clubs,  oil,  treacle,  and 
sand  to  be  made  hot  and  poured  on  the  enemy,  jars  of 
poisonous  snakes  to  throw  amongst  the  enemy,  sprays 
to  scald  them  with  boiling  water,  and  clothes  steeped 
in  oil  ready  to  be  set  fire  to  and  thrown  amongst  their 
foes.  Upon  each  elephant  were  seven  warriors — two 
bowmen,  two  swordsmen,  two  armed  with  hooks,  and 


THE  SONS  OF  PANDU  117 

one  armed  with  a  lance.  The  bowmen  wore  iguana 
skin  shields  to  case  their  hands  and  arms  up  to  the 
elbow. 

The  war  raged  furiously  for  many  months,  but 
several  of  the  kings  who  were  helping  the  Kurus  at 
first,  afterwards  deserted  them  and  went  over  to  the 
Pandavas,  and  at  last  all  Dhritarashtra's  hundred  sons 
were  slain,  and  the  Pandava  brothers  were  victors. 
All  the  Pandava  brothers  escaped  alive,  but  their  children 
and  relatives  had  been  slain,  so  Yudhishthira,  though 
he  was  now  king  of  both  the  Pandava  kingdom  round 
Indraprasthra  and  the  Kuru  kingdom  round  Hastinapura, 
was  filled  with  grief  and  remorse,  especially  when  he 
thought  of  his  dead  sons  and  nephews  and  uncles, 
and  remembered  also  that  even  the  Kurus  were  his 
cousins.  After  much  difficulty  the  priests  comforted 
him  by  telling  him  that  it  was  the  duty  of  soldiers  and 
kings  to  war  upon  one  another.  They  also  told  him  to 
hold  a  great  horse-sacrifice  in  order  that  he  might  be 
cleansed  from  any  sin. 

A  horse  was  chosen  and  allowed  to  wander  at  its  own 
will  through  all  the  district  round,  and  one  of  the 
Pandavas  followed  it  with  an  army.  Whatever  kingdom 
the  horse  entered,  the  ruler  of  that  kingdom  was  obliged 
either  to  own  Yudhishthira  as  his  overlord,  or  to  raise 
an  army  to  fight  the  army  that  followed  the  horse. 
After  many  months,  the  horse  turned  of  its  own  free 
will  to  Hastinapura.  A  great  crowd  assembled  for  the 
sacrifice,  and  King  Yudhishthira  saw  that  all  the  poor 
were  fed,  and  that  presents  were  given  to  all  the 
Brahmanas.  Then  the  priests  sacrificed  the  horse  and 
made  offerings  to  the  gods,  and  Yudhishthira,  having 
given  away  untold  wealth  to  the  poor  and  to  the  priests, 
bathed  himself  and  became  cleansed  of  all  his  sins. 

For  some  time  after  this  he  ruled  his  kingdom 
wisely,  and  tried  to  forget  his  grief.  His  old  blind  uncle, 
Dhritarashtra,  lived  on  at  his  court,  and  was  kindly 
treated  by  all,  for  everyone  felt  sorry  for  the  unfortunate 


ii8  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

old  man.  At  last,  however,  Dhritarashtra,  who  could 
not  be  happy  in  the  company  of  the  men  who  had 
killed  his  sons,  left  the  palace  and  went  to  live  a  hermit's 
life  in  the  forest.  Yudhishthira's  mother,  also,  went 
into  the  forest  to  be  a  companion  to  the  blind  king's 
wife.  Not  long  afterwards  a  forest  fire  broke  out, 
and  Dhritarashtra  and  his  wife  and  the  mother  of  the 
Pandavas  were  all  burnt  to  death. 

Upon  receiving  this  dreadful  news,  Yudhishthira 
and  his  brothers  were  so  filled  with  grief  that  they 
made  up  their  minds  to  become  wanderers  and  beggars. 
They  handed  over  their  kingdom  to  another  ruler,  and 
set  out  on  their  wanderings.  The  brothers  and  the 
Queen  Draupadi,  clad  only  in  the  bark  of  trees,  and 
taking  no  wealth  with  them,  left  Hastinapura  for  the 
last  time.  Many  citizens  followed  them  weeping,  but 
after  a  time  everyone  left  them,  and  they  entered  the 
forest  with  no  followers  except  a  faithful  dog.  First 
they  wandered  south  and  west  till  they  reached  the 
mouth  of  the  Indus,  then  turning  north  again,  they 
reached  and  crossed  the  Himalaya  and  the  great  sandy 
desert  that  lay  beyond  it.  All  this  time  they  lived  as 
beggars,  and  slept  upon  the  bare  earth,  hoping  that  by 
giving  up  all  comforts  they  might  at  last  reach  heaven. 
But  one  after  another  all  the  brothers,  except  Yudhish- 
thira, fell  down  and  died.  Draupadi  dropped  by  the 
way,  so  that  only  Yudhishthira  and  the  dog  were  left. 

Then  the  Lord  of  Heaven,  the  thousand-eyed,  came 
down  in  a  chariot,  and  invited  Yudhishthira  to  enter  it 
and  be  taken  up  to  heaven.  But  Yudhishthira,  grieving 
for  the  loss  of  his  brothers  and  the  Queen  Draupadi, 
said  that  he  did  not  wish  to  go  to  heaven  unless  they, 
too,  could  go.  Indra  answered  that  they  had  already 
reached  heaven,  having  cast  off  their  human  bodies, 
but  that  Yudhishthira  was  to  be  taken  up  to  heaven 
without  casting  off  his  body. 

Then  Yudhishthira  said,  "  This  dog,  O  Lord  of  the 
Past  and  Present,  is  very  devoted  to  me.  Let  him  come 


THE  SONS  OF  PANDU  119 

with  me.  My  heart  is  full  of  compassion  for  him." 
Indra  tried  hard  to  persuade  Yudhishthira  to  abandon 
the  dog,  but  Yudhishthira  replied  that  the  dog  was 
helpless,  and  had  sought  his  protection,  and  that  he 
should  not  dream  of  abandoning  it  just  for  the  sake  of  his 
own  happiness.  Then  the  dog  became  changed  into 
the  god  of  Righteousness,  who  praised  Yudhishthira 
because  he  had  shown  so  much  pity  for  living  creatures 
that  he  had  been  willing  to  give  up  his  own  happi- 
ness sooner  than  forsake  the  dog.  Yudhishthira  then 
mounted  the  car  of  the  god  and  ascended  to  heaven. 


DEUCALION  AND  PYRRHA 

A   GREEK   STORY 

LONG  ago,  in  the  days  when  men  were  beginning  to  use 
iron  tools  and  weapons,  Jupiter,  the  king  of  the  gods, 
grew  weary  of  the  wicked  ways  of  men.  He  made  up 
his  mind  to  destroy  them  all,  and  thought  at  first  that 
it  would  be  a  good  plan  to  set  fire  to  the  world,  and  thus 
destroy  all  living  things  upon  it. 

He  raised  his  red  right  hand,  full  of  flaming  thunder- 
bolts, and  was  about  to  cast  them  at  the  earth.  Sud- 
denly he  paused,  for  a  dreadful  thought  had  come  to 
his  mind.  Suppose  the  flames  from  the  world  should 
spread  to  the  home  of  the  gods !  He  remembered  that 
there  was  an  old  saying  that  earth,  air,  and  heaven  would 
one  day  perish  in  one  great  flame. 

So  he  stayed  his  hand,  and  decided  that  it  would  be 
much  safer  to  open  the  clouds  and  pour  down  such 
heavy  rain  that  the  whole  of  the  wicked  race  should 
be  drowned.  He  at  once  shut  up  the  north  wind 
in  a  cave,  because  he  knew  that  the  north  wind 
blows  the  murky  clouds  away,  and  makes  the  sky  blue 
again. 

He  let  loose  the  south  wind,  who  came  flapping  his 
dripping  wet  wings.  His  face  was  covered  by  a  thick 
black  cloud  ;  mists  sat  upon  his  forehead,  and  water 
ran  from  his  grey  hair  and  beard. 

Behind  him  the  sky  was  dark  with  clouds,  the  thunder 
crashed,  but  bright  against  the  heavy  rain  clouds  rose 
the  many-hued  rainbow. 

The  sky  god  had  a  brother,  Neptune,  who  was  god  of 
the  sea.  Now  Neptune  wished  to  help  his  brother 

120 


PLATE  VI 

«THE  VEILED  ARTEMIS" 

A  Terra-Cotta  Figurine  from  the  Temple  of   Croesus 
at  Ephesus 


DEUCALION  AND  PYRRHA  121 

to  destroy  men  upon  the  earth.  His  garments  were 
of  a  sea-blue  colour,  and  in  his  hand  he  carried  a 
trident. 

He  ordered  the  rivers  to  overflow  their  banks  and  roll 
over  the  land,  while  he  himself  struck  the  earth  such  a 
mighty  blow  with  his  trident  that  it  shivered  and 
trembled  beneath  it.  The  sea,  too,  poured  over  the 
land,  and  far  and  wide  nothing  was  to  be  seen  but  a 
tossing  stretch  of  waters. 

The  farmer  rowed  in  a  boat  over  the  field  which 
yesterday  he  had  ploughed,  and,  gazing  down  into  the 
depths  of  the  water,  he  beheld  his  crops  and  his  home 
lying  there.  He  dropped  his  arrchor  through  the  water 
to  touch  the  green  meadow,  which  was  now  beneath 
the  flood.  Alas !  the  bottom  of  his  boat  grated  on 
what  had  once  been  his  vineyard. 

Beneath  the  elms,  the  fish  were  swimming,  and  seals 
and  dolphins  swam  and  frisked  above  the  spot  where 
once  the  goats  had  nibbled.  Still  the  floods  continued 
to  rise,  and  the  rain  continued  to  pour  down,  till  nothing 
was  left  above  the  water,  but  the  two  high  peaks  of 
Parnassus,  a  mountain  in  Greece. 

Of  all  the  men  upon  the  earth  none  remained  but 
Deucalion  and  his  wife  Pyrrha.  They  two  were  tossing 
upon  the  waters  in  a  tiny  raft,  which  at  length  ran  upon 
the  peaks  of  Parnassus.  They  stepped  out  from  the 
raft,  and  landing,  made  an  altar  and  worshipped  the 
gods. 

Now  Deucalion  was  an  upright  man,  and  loved  justice, 
and  of  all  the  men  that  had  been  upon  the  face  of  the 
earth,  none  was  so  good  and  just  as  he. 

His  wife  Pyrrha,  too,  loved  the  gods,  and  feared 
them  more  than  any  other  woman. 

Jupiter  looked  down  upon  the  dreadful  waters  that 
covered  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  saw  these  two  simple, 
honest  folk  building  their  altar,  and  worshipping  the  gods 
in  the  midst  of  the  flood.  His  heart  was  touched,  and  he 


122    ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

felt  so  sorry  for  them  that  he  made  up  his  mind  to  save 
them. 

He  ordered  the  clouds  to  scatter,  and  the  rain  to 
cease.  The  sky  became  blue  once  more,  and  fresh 
green  grass  sprang  up  upon  the  earth. 

Neptune,  seeing  that  his  brother  had  forgotten  his 
wrath,  laid  aside  his  trident  and  called  his  bugler, 
Triton.  He  told  him  to  order  the  rivers  and  the  seas 
to  roll  back  into  their  proper  places.  Triton  at  once 
raised  his  beautiful  shell  and  blew  such  a  loud  blast 
upon  it  that  the  waters  immediately  rolled  back  and 
left  the  land  high  and  dry  again. 

Perhaps  you  think  that  Deucalion  and  Pyrrha  were 
happy  now  ?  Well,  try  to  picture  how  lonely  they 
felt  now  that  they  were  the  only  two  people  left  in  all 
the  wide  world.  No  pleasant  human  voices  came  to 
cheer  them.  No  children  played  around  them.  All 
whom  they  loved  were  dead. 

It  made  them  so  sad  that  they  shed  many  bitter 
tears.  Then,  drying  their  tears,  they  walked  by  the 
stream  to  the  temple  of  the  gods,  and  found  it  all 
covered  with  shells  and  seaweeds.  They  tried  to 
make  a  fire  upon  the  altar,  but  alas  !  it  was  too  damp. 
Almost  in  despair,  they  were  turning  sadly  away  when 
the  goddess  called  to  them.  What  she  said,  however, 
was  so  strange  that  at  first  they  felt  more  sad  than 
ever. 

For  she  told  them  to  veil  their  heads  and  to  throw 
behind  them  the  bones  of  their  great  parent.  This 
grieved  Pyrrha  very  much,  and  she  said  that  nothing 
should  ever  make  her  do  anything  so  dreadful  to  her 
dead  mother. 

Deucalion,  however,  guessed  that  the  goddess  meant 
their  great  mother  the  Earth,  whose  stones  and  rocks 
would  be  her  bones.  So  he  and  Pyrrha  covered  their 
heads  and  threw  many  stones  behind  them. 

Then  a  wonderful  thing  happened.     The  stones  that 


DEUCALION  AND  PYRRHA  123 

Deucalion  threw  became  men,  and  those  that  his  wife 
threw  became  women. 

Thus  once  more  there  was  a  race  of  men  upon  the 
earth,  and  if  ever  you  learn  the  language  that  Deucalion 
and  Pyrrha  spoke,  you  will  find  that  the  word  for  people 
also  means  stones. 


THE  STORY  OF  YU  FROM  THE  SHU  KING 

A   CHINESE   STORY 

THE  Chinese  word  Shu  means  "  the  pencil  speak- 
ing," and  the  story  that  follows  is  part  of  what  the 
pencil  said. 

A  certain  Emperor  of  China,  named  Yao,  who  lived 
about  2000  years  before  Christ,  was  so  intelligent, 
thoughtful,  and  courteous,  that  his  bright  influence 
was  felt  through  the  four  quarters  of  the  land,  and 
reached  to  the  heaven  above  and  the  earth  beneath. 
He  ruled  his  black-haired  people  so  well  that  they 
became  intelligent  and  happy,  and  lived  together 
in  peace,  though  they  belonged  to  many  different 
tribes. 

The  people  of  China  needed  to  know  when  the 
seasons  would  come,  so  that  they  might  sow  their 
seeds  at  the  proper  time.  So  Yao  ordered  two  families 
of  brothers  to  observe  the  wide  heavens,  and  to  notice 
the  movements  and  varying  appearances  of  the  sun,  the 
moon,  and  the  stars ;  and  thus  to  reckon  out  the 
seasons.  He  ordered  one  brother  to  reside  in  the  east, 
in  what  was  called  the  Bright  Valley,  and  there  to 
receive  the  rising  sun  as  a  guest.  He  was  also  to  arrange 
the  labours  of  the  Spring.  "  In  that  season,"  said 
the  Emperor,  "  the  day  is  of  medium  length,  the 
people  are  scattered  in  the  fields,  and  the  birds  are 
building  their  nests." 

The  second  brother  was  to  live  in  the  south,  in 
what  was  called  the  Brilliant  Capital,  to  arrange  the 
labours  of  the  Summer,  and  to  notice  the  limits  of  the 
shadows.  "  The  day,"  said  the  Emperor,  "  is  then 

124 


PLATE  VII 
Yu  THE  GREAT 


STORY  OF  YU  FROM  THE  SHU  KING   125 

at  its  longest,  and  the  birds  and  beasts  have  their 
feathers  and  hair  thin,  and  change  their  coats." 

The  third  brother  was  to  reside  in  the  west,  in  what 
was  called  the  Dark  Valley,  and  there  to  receive  the 
setting  sun,  and  arrange  the  labours  of  the  Autumn. 
"  The  night,"  said  the  Emperor,  "  is  then  of  medium 
length,  the  people  feel  at  ease,  and  birds  and  beasts 
have  their  coats  in  good  condition." 

The  fourth  brother  was  to  reside  in  the  northern 
region,  in  what  was  called  the  Sombre  Capital,  and 
there  to  notice  and  arrange  for  the  changes  of  the 
Winter.  "  The  day,"  said  the  Emperor,  "  is  at  its 
shortest.  The  people  keep  in  their  houses,  and  the 
coats  of  birds  and  beasts  are  downy  and  thick."  From 
that  time  onward,  the  four  Seasons  were  fixed,  and  the 
labours  of  the  year  were  done  in  their  proper  order. 

Later  in  the  reign,  a  great  trouble  overtook  China, 
for  floods  became  widespread  throughout  the  land. 
We  do  not  know  what  caused  the  floods,  but  most 
probably  it  was  due  to  the  river  Ho  changing  its  course. 
This  has  happened  so  many  times  that  the  Ho  has 
earned  for  itself  the  name  of  "  China's  Sorrow." 

The  Emperor  said  to  his  Chief  Minister,  the  President 
of  the  Four  Mountains,  "  Ho,  Four  Mountains,  the 
waters  of  the  flood  are  very  destructive  in  their  over- 
flow. So  vast  are  they,  that  they  embrace  the  hills 
and  overtop  the  great  heights,  so  that  the  lower  people 
groan  and  murmur.  Is  there  a  capable  man  to  whom 
I  can  give  the  task  of  checking  the  floods  ?  "  All  in 
the  Court  replied,  "  Is  there  not  Khwan  ?  "  So  the 
Emperor  ordered  Khwan  to  go  and  do  his  best.  For 
nine  years  he  worked,  but  alas !  the  floods  still  con- 
tinued. 

Then  the  Emperor  appointed  Khwan's  son,  Yu,  to 
take  his  place.  Now  Yu  was  full  of  energy  and  very 
capable.  He  went  to  work  with  untiring  zeal  to 
improve  the  condition  of  his  country.  He  went  by 
carriage  on  land,  by  boat  on  the  water,  by  sledge  in  the 


126  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

icy  places,  and  climbed  the  hills,  with  the  aid  of  shoes 
with  strong  spikes  in  them.  He  taught  the  people 
how  to  deepen  the  channels  of  the  streams,  and  how  to 
cut  fresh  canals  and  passages  for  the  streams,  so  that 
they  might  find  their  way  to  the  sea,  instead  of  spreading 
over  the  land.  Confucius  tells  us  that  the  deepening 
of  the  channels  made  the  rivers  hasten  to  the  sea,  as  the 
courtiers  hastened  when  summoned  to  the  presence  of 
the  Emperor.  The  banks  of  the  lakes  were  made 
higher,  so  that  the  water  could  not  flood  the  surrounding 
fields,  and  many  marshy  places  became  very  fertile 
fields.  When  the  marshes  were  drained,  the  people 
came  down  from  the  wild  hillsides,  where  they  had 
hunted  in  the  forests  and  settled  down  to  till  the  ground 
in  the  valleys.  Later,  the  woods  on  the  hillsides  and  in 
the  valleys  were  cleared  away,  and  the  land  used  for 
crops.  Paths  and  roads  were  made,  so  that  the  hunters 
of  the  hills  might  exchange  meat  and  skins  for  the  crops 
of  the  tillers  in  the  valley. 

So  eager  was  Yu  to  help  the  people  in  their  distress, 
and  to  make  the  best  of  all  the  different  parts  of  the 
country,  that,  though  he  loved  his  wife  and  his  little 
son  dearly,  he  had  to  leave  them  and  go  to  follow  out 
the  plans  he  had  made,  and  to  labour  with  might  and 
main  on  the  land. 

After  a  long  time,  Yu  was  chosen  to  be  Emperor. 
The  Emperor  Shun  said  to  him,  "  Come,  Yu.  I  have 
occupied  my  place  for  thirty  and  three  years,  and  am 
old.  My  duties  weary  me.  Do  you,  putting  aside  all 
idleness,  take  the  leading  of  my  people."  Yu  answered 
humbly,  "  I  am  not  good  enough  for  such  a  high 
position.  Think  of  the  Minister  of  Crime.  He  has 
worked  so  hard  to  govern  well  and  to  make  his  laws 
obeyed,  that  the  black-haired  people  cherish  him  in 
their  hearts.  O  Emperor !  choose  him." 

But  the  Emperor  said,  "  Come,  Yu.  When  the 
waters  spread  over  the  land,  and  filled  me  with  dread, 
you  subdued  them.  Full  of  toilsome  earnestness  for 


STORY  OF  YU  FROM  THE  SHU  KING   127 

the  good  of  your  country,  you  worked  day  and  night, 
and  denied  yourself  the  comforts  of  a  home.  You  do 
not  boast,  out  are  humble.  Carefully  maintain  the 
throne  which  you  are  to  occupy,  and  see  that  there  is 
no  distress  and  poverty  in  your  kingdom.  I  will  not 
alter  my  words." 

So  Yu  became  Emperor.  For  a  long  time  the 
people  of  Miao,  who  had  always  given  trouble  to  the 
Emperor,  continued  to  rebel  against  Yu,  but  at  last 
he  conquered  them,  not,  however,  by  war,  but  by 
making  them  understand  the  advantages  of  living  at 
peace  with  their  powerful  neighbour. 

The  Emperor  Yu  was  so  powerful  that  he  divided 
the  land  into  different  parts,  each  of  which  had  to  send 
tribute  to  him.  The  wild  people  of  the  islands  in  the 
north  brought  furs,  whilst  the  wild  people  of  the  islands 
in  the  south  brought  garments  of  grass,  with  silks  woven 
in  shell  patterns,  and  baskets  of  oranges.  The  people 
on  the  hills  brought  silk  from  the  mountain  mulberry 
tree.  Other  provinces  sent  varnish  and  silk,  salt  and 
fine  cloth,  gold,  silver,  copper,  lead,  and  precious 
stones.  Yet  others  sent  bamboos,  salt,  sounding 
stones,  oyster  pearls,  and  fish,  with  baskets  of  woven  silk, 
both  blue  and  purple,  and  checked  and  pure  white. 
Others  sent  gold  and  iron  and  flint  stones  to  make 
arrow  heads,  along  with  the  skins  of  bears,  foxes,  and 
jackals,  and  nets  woven  of  hair.  Jade  and  hemp,  and 
fibres  and  fine  floss  silk  were  also  sent.  Most  of  these 
things  were  sent  by  boat  along  the  rivers  and  along 
the  canals  which  Yu  had  ordered  his  workmen  to 
make,  for  Yu  had  made  access  to  the  capital  easy  from 
all  parts  of  his  kingdom. 

He  encouraged  the  people  to  grow  crops,  and,  after 
studying  the  nature  of  the  soil  carefully,  he  ordered  the 
people  to  bring  as  tribute  either  the  whole  plant  of  the 
grain,  or  the  ears  only,  with  a  portion  of  the  stalk,  or  the 
straw,  or  the  husk,  or  the  grain  in  the  husk,  or  the 
grain  cleaned  from  the  husk,  according  as  the  soil  was 


fertile  and  easy  to  cultivate,  or  barren  and  difficult  to 
cultivate. 

After  he  had  become  Emperor,  Yu  still  continued  to 
be  as  hard-working  and  as  thoughtful  for  the  people  as 
he  had  been  when  trying  to  check  the  floods.  It  is 
said  that  he  rose  as  many  as  ten  times  during  one  meal 
so  as  to  listen  to  people  who  had  called  upon  his  name 
in  their  trouble.  He  desired  so  earnestly  to  receive 
good  advice  that  he  announced  to  the  scholars  in  all 
parts  of  his  kingdom,  that  anyone  who  could  guide  him 
in  the  right  way,  or  could  give  him  information  about 
the  business  of  the  kingdom,  or  had  any  complaint  to 
make,  was  to  be  sure  and  come  to  the  palace  and  claim 
an  audience. 

Whether  he  was  resting  or  bathing  or  eating,  the 
Emperor  always  rose  and  went  to  listen  to  anyone  who 
called  upon  his  name.  In  fact,  he  tried  to  live  up  to 
what  he  had  once  said  to  the  Emperor  Shun :  "  When 
the  Emperor  knows  men  so  that  he  can  put  every  one 
into  the  office  for  which  he  is  fit,  he  is  wise.  When  he 
gives  peace  to  his  people,  his  kindness  is  felt,  and  the 
black-haired  race  cherish  him  in  their  hearts.  When 
he  can  be  thus  wise  and  kind,  what  need  has  he  for 
anxiety  or  fear  ?  " 


HAMMURABI,  KING  OF  BABYLON  1 

ONE  of  the  earliest  places  in  the  world  where  men  learnt 
to  write,  to  draw,  and  to  carve,  to  make  laws,  and  to 
live  together  in  great  cities,  was  the  plain  through  which 
flow  the  Euphrates  and  the  Tigris.  Before  men  learnt 
to  make  canals  and  channels,  it  was  for  many  reasons  a 
difficult  place  in  which  to  make  a  home. 

The  country  gets  so  little  rain  and  so  much  sunshine 
that  those  places  which  were  not  near  the  rivers  would  be 
too  dry  for  men  and  animals  and  plants,  while  those 
places  which  were  near  the  river  were  subject  to  dreadful 
floods  in  the  spring  when  the  snows  melted  on  the 
mountains  where  the  streams  and  rivers  rose.  Near  its 
mouth  the  river  Tigris  laid  down  so  much  mud  that 
its  channel  got  filled,  and  so  all  the  land  round  became 
a  swamp. 

As  soon,  however,  as  men  learnt  to  make  canals  and 
channels,  water  could  be  carried  from  the  river  to  all 
parts  of  the  plain,  and  as  the  soil  had  been  laid  down  by 
the  river,  it  was  very  fertile,  and  corn  and  grain  grew  so 
well  and  so  quickly  that  the  country  became  very  rich. 
Merchants  and  traders  from  Europe  and  Egypt  and  the 
East  brought  luxuries  to  it  in  exchange  for  its  corn  and 
grain.  The  canals  made  the  rivers  less  likely  to  flood 
their  banks,  and  also  formed  convenient  ways  for  goods 
to  be  carried  from  one  part  to  the  other.  No  one 
knows  when  the  people  in  this  plain  found  out  how  to 
make  canals,  but  it  must  have  been  some  thousands  of 
years  ago,  at  a  time  when  the  people  of  the  British  Isles 
were  probably  still  living  in  a  very  backward  way,  and 

1  About  2000  B.C. 
i  129 


only  knew  how  to  use  stone  and  bone  and  horns  for 
tools  and  weapons. 

At  any  rate,  when  the  King  about  whom  you  are  now 
reading  reigned  in  Babylon,  more  than  twenty  centuries 
before  Christ  was  born,  the  people  had  long  been  used 
to  watering  their  country  by  canals,  and  were  famous 
for  their  corn  and  grain  and  gardens.  They  had  long 
known  how  to  write,  though  they  did  not  write  on 
paper  as  we  do,  but  made  their  signs  on  little  clay 
tablets. 

They  had  even  a  system  by  means  of  which  letters 
could  be  carried  by  swift  runners  to  all  parts  of  the 
country.  The  letters  that  Hammurabi  wrote  were  on 
small  clay  tablets,  two  or  three  inches  broad,  three  or 
four  inches  long,  and  about  an  inch  thick.  The  signs 
were  made  on  the  wet  clay,  which  was  then  baked. 
Afterwards  it  was  powdered  with  dry  clay  to  prevent  it 
from  sticking,  and  was  then  enclosed  in  an  envelope  of 
clay,  on  which  was  written  the  name  of  the  person  to 
whom  it  was  being  sent.  The  envelope  was  necessary 
to  prevent  the  letters  from  being  rubbed  off  as  well  as 
to  keep  private  what  was  written.  Both  tablets  and 
envelope  were  baked  to  harden  them.  Numbers  of 
these  letters  sent  so  many  thousands  of  years  ago  have 
been  found,  and  quite  lately  people  have  been  clever 
enough  to  find  out  what  the  signs  on  them  meant, 
and  to  read  the  letters.  Scholars  think  that  letters  of 
this  kind  were  being  sent,  two  thousand  years  before 
Hammurabi  reigned,  from  Shirpurla,  the  town  about 
which  you  read  in  the  story  of  Gudea,  to  the  various 
towns  near  it. 

It  is  from  the  letters  which  Hammurabi  and  the 
people  at  that  time  wrote,  and  from  the  records  they 
made  on  clay  tablets  or  carved  on  stone,  that  we 
have  learnt  so  much  about  this  great  King  of 
Babylonia. 

Until  his  time  the  district  had  been  ruled  by  many 
petty  princes,  who  had  often  quarrelled  among  them- 


PLATE  VIII 

(K)HAMMURABI  RECEIVES  THE  CODE  OF  LAWS  FROM 

SHAMASH,  THE  SUN   GOD 
From  a  facsimile,  engraved  with  the  Text  of  the  Laws,  in  the  British  Museum 


HAMMURABI,  KING  OF  BABYLON       131 

selves.  Hammurabi,  partly  by  his  success  as  a  leader 
in  battle,  but  chiefly  by  his  wise  way  of  governing, 
and  by  the  care  which  he  took  in  the  improvement  of 
the  canals  and  cities,  managed  to  unite  these  little 
kingdoms  into  a  great  empire,  of  which  Babylon 
was  the  chief  city.  His  name  deserves  to  be  remem- 
bered with  respect  and  affection,  not  because  he  made 
Babylonia  a  great  empire,  whose  power  lasted  for 
nearly  two  thousand  years  after  his  death,  but  because 
he  was  one  of  the  first  kings  in  the  world  to  spend  the 
greater  part  of  his  time  and  strength  in  trying  to  see 
that  the  poorest  and  humblest  and  weakest  of  the 
people  whom  he  ruled,  whether  they  were  of  the  same 
race  as  himself  or  not,  should  get  justice.  No  matter 
how  poor  a  man  was,  or  how  far  away  from  the  city 
he  lived,  he  could  be  certain  that  if  he  were  unjustly 
treated,  the  King  would  see  that  the  wrong  was  put 
right,  and  that  the  officer  who  had  wronged  him  was 
not  given  the  power  to  wrong  him  again. 

When  you  are  a  little  older,  perhaps,  you  will  read  his 
famous  letters,  and  find  out  for  yourselves  how  carefully 
he  watched  over  the  interests  of  the  poor. 

Not  only  did  he  try  to  make  good  and  just  laws, 
and  to  see  that  everyone  obeyed  them,  but  he  carried 
out  many  plans  for  making  the  country  better  and 
more  prosperous.  He  improved  the  little  channels  and 
canals  by  which  the  water  was  carried  to  all  parts  of  the 
country,  and  encouraged  people  to  keep  the  canals  in 
good  repair,  by  granting  the  village  people  who  mended 
them  free  fishing  rights  in  their  waters. 

He  caused  several  new  and  important  canals  to  be 
cut,  which  made  it  easier  for  goods  to  be  carried  from 
one  part  to  another.  He  caused  the  silt  and  mud 
which  had  been  blocking  up  the  Tigris  near  the  sea 
to  be  removed.  This  made  it  possible  for  vessels  to  go 
right  down  the  river  to  the  sea,  drained  the  swamps  so 
that  corn  and  grain  could  be  grown  there,  and  made  it 


132  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

easier  for  the  swollen  waters  to  get  to  the  sea  in  spring 
so  that  there  was  far  less  danger  of  floods. 

Both  Hammurabi  and  his  people  were  very  devout 
and  anxious  to  please  their  gods.  He  encouraged  the 
people  who  lived  in  the  great  cities  to  be  proud  of  their 
home,  by  building  temples  in  each  city,  in  which  the 
people  might  worship  their  own  city  god.  As  people 
always  wanted  to  make  the  home  of  their  god  beautiful 
and  to  put  ornaments  in  it,  this  plan  of  encouraging 
each  city  to  build  fine  temples  naturally  helped  the 
people  to  become  clever  craftsmen. 

There  is  also  a  record  of  the  many  statues  that  he 
caused  to  be  made,  and  the  great  granaries  he  built, 
where  the  corn  from  a  very  good  harvest  might  be  stored 
so  as  to  be  ready  for  a  time  of  famine.  In  addition  to 
all  these  things,  he  had  frequently  to  go  to  war  with 
the  tribes  who  were  continually  coming  down  from 
the  hills  around  the  plain  to  try  to  plunder  and 
rob  the  richer  people  of  the  lowlands,  and  he  built 
great  walls  and  fortresses  to  protect  the  people  on  the 
border. 

He  is  most  famous  for  the  code  of  laws  which  he 
made  towards  the  end  of  his  reign.  Many  of  these 
laws  were  very  old,  others  were  new  ones  which 
Hammurabi  had  found  to  be  wise  and  useful  during 
his  long  reign.  Everyone  who  reads  them  agrees  that 
they  are  among  the  wisest  and  best  laws  that  have 
ever  been  made.  A  slab  of  rock,  on  which  these  laws 
are  engraved,  has  on  it  a  picture  of  the  sun  god  pre- 
senting Hammurabi  with  the  laws  of  the  land. 

When  Hammurabi  came  to  the  throne,  he  renamed 
his  capital  and  called  it  "  Bab-ili "  or  the  Gate  of 
God.  This  city  is  called  Babel  in  the  Bible,  and  has 
become  known  all  over  the  world  as  the  famous  city 
of  Babylon. 

Some  day  perhaps  you  will  visit  the  British  Museum 
and  see  the  letters  Hammurabi  wrote.  They  are  on 


HAMMURABI,  KING  OF  BABYLON       133 

all  sorts  of  subjects,  such  as  the  shearing  of  sheep,  the 
growing  of  corn,  the  clearing  of  canals,  the  punishment 
of  money-lenders  who  had  charged  too  much  interest, 
the  sending  out  of  ships,  and  the  state  of  the  temples 
of  the  city  gods. 


CHANGKAT  RAMBIAN 


VERY  long  ago  Changkat  Rambian  was  a  seaport  and 
not  an  inland  town.  In  those  far  off  days,  a  great 
desire  for  tin  led  traders  from  India  to  risk  themselves 
in  frail  boats  on  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  and  trust  to  the 
monsoon  to  blow  them  across  to  Changkat  Rambian. 
Here  they  unloaded  their  gay  and  pretty  chintzes  and 
prints,  and  received  the  much  desired  Malay  tin  in 
exchange.  The  Datoh  of  Changkat  Rambian  always 
welcomed  the  dusky  strangers,  and  entertained  them 
pleasantly  while  they  waited  during  long  weeks  for  the 
wind  to  change  and  be  ready  to  blow  them  westward 
to  India  again.  Now  once  it  happened  that  when  an 
Indian  trader  cast  anchor  off  Changkat  Rambian,  the 
Datoh  had  only  a  very  small  quantity  of  tin  ore  and  no 
smelted  tin  ready  for  exchange.  The  Datoh,  however, 
felt  quite  sure  that  long  before  the  winds  were  ready 
to  blow  the  Indian  ship  back  again  he  would  have  plenty 
of  tin  smelted.  So  he  examined  the  pretty  chintzes 
and  prints,  found  them  very  tempting,  and  boldly 
promised  the  Malabar  merchant  that  the  tin  would  be 
ready  in  plenty  of  time. 

As  the  days  went  past,  all  sorts  of  troubles  came 
upon  the  unlucky  Datoh,  and  no  pure  tin  could  he 
prepare.  Day  by  day  the  Indian  trader  marched  up 
to  the  Datoh's  house  and  demanded  at  least  some  small 
portion  of  the  tin,  and  day  by  day  some  fresh  misfortune 
prevented  the  Datoh  from  getting  the  tin.  At  last  he 

1  From  Notes  and  Queries,  1885. 
134 


CHANGKAT  RAMBIAN  135 

fell  into  a  great  rage  and  scolded  the  trader  fiercely 
because  his  feet  were  wearing  out  the  white  cockle 
shells  that  formed  the  pathway  to  his  house. 

That  night  despair  overtook  the  poor  Datoh,  and  he 
called  loudly  upon  the  gods  to  help  him.  Then  he 
stretched  himself  upon  his  mat  to  sleep.  No  sooner 
had  he  closed  his  eyes  than  an  old  man  appeared  to  him 
and  said,  "  Seek  for  a  young  kompas  tree  growing  upon 
an  ant  hill.  Make  a  poker  of  its  trunk,  and  use  that  to 
stir  the  tin  that  is  being  smelted.  All  will  go  well 
then." 

When  dawn  came,  there  came  the  angry  trader, 
crushing  the  white  cockle  shells  beneath  his  feet,  and 
calling  loudly  for  his  tin,  saying  that  in  a  day  or  two  the 
wind  would  be  blowing  towards  Malabar,  and  he  must 
go.  The  Datoh  once  more  begged  for  time,  and  said 
that  he  must  go  to  visit  Tunggal,  and  would  be  quite 
sure  to  have  the  tin  ready  on  his  return.  The  unwilling 
trader  had  perforce  to  agree,  so  the  Datoh  stepped 
into  his  canoe  and  paddled  away  to  Tunggal,  which 
was  then  an  island,  and  not  an  inland  town,  on  the  Perak 
river.  It  did  not  take  the  Datoh  long  to  find  a  kompas 
sapling  on  an  ant  hill  on  the  island,  and  he  jumped 
cheerfully  into  his  canoe  and  paddled  back  to  Changkat 
Rambian. 

There  he  found  the  angry  trader  louder  than  ever  in 
his  complaints,  for  he  had  hoped  the  Datoh  had  gone 
to  borrow  gold,  and  was  furiously  angry  when  he 
brought  back  merely  a  kompas  sapling.  "  Keep  calm," 
said  the  Datoh.  "  To-night  I  smelt.  To-morrow  you 
may  come  for  the  tin,  for  I  have  made  a  vow  to  fill 
your  boat." 

All  night  the  Datoh  smelted.  The  Indian  seamen 
lying  on  board  their  ship  at  anchor  off  the  shore  could 
hear  the  regular  noise  of  the  clack  of  the  bellows,  and 
wondered  wherever  all  the  tin  ore  could  be  got  to  make 
such  a  night's  work.  The  trader  did  not  believe  the 
Datoh  could  have  the  tin  ready,  and  was  determined  to 


136  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

punish  him  for  having  cheated  him  of  his  cargo  of 
chintz  and  print. 

Quite  early  in  the  morning  he  sent  a  sailor  on  shore 
to  see  how  much  tin  was  ready.  Picture  the  sailor's 
astonishment  at  seeing  piles  and  piles  of  white,  shining 
ingots  of  tin  lying  ready  at  the  smelting  house,  while 
the  furnace  still  burnt  and  the  Datoh  still  blew  the 
bellows. 

"  Why  are  you  alone  ?  "  said  he  to  the  sailor.  "  Did 
I  not  promise  you  the  tin  to-day  ?  "  So  the  sailor 
fetched  his  companions  and  the  captain,  and  the  Datoh 
told  them  to  take  the  ingots  without  weighing  or  count- 
ing them,  for  he  had  promised  them  all  he  should  smelt. 
Very  happy  grew  the  Indian  trader's  face  on  hearing 
this,  and  now  he  was  as  polite  to  the  Datoh  as  he  had 
formerly  been  rude. 

Back  and  forth  tramped  the  sailors,  carrying  the 
precious  ingots  to  the  vessel.  Yet  the  heap  on  shore 
grew  and  grew.  So  the  Datoh  suggested  to  the  Indian 
trader  that,  instead  of  carrying  any  more  ingots,  a  spout 
should  be  fixed  from  the  furnace  to  the  hold  of  the  ship, 
and  the  precious  metal  poured  like  water  into  the  vessel. 
The  greedy  trader,  who  had  already  had  far  more 
than  his  due  of  tin,  eagerly  agreed.  The  spout  was 
fixed,  and  the  heavy  molten  metal  poured  into  the  ship 
so  rapidly  that  it  began  to  sink.  The  Indian  merchant 
now  cried  loudly  to  the  Datoh  to  stop,  but  the  latter 
said,  "  No ;  did  you  not  refuse  to  believe  any  of  my 
promises  ?  Now  you  shall  see  how  I  keep  one.  I 
promised  a  shipload  of  tin.  A  shipload  you  shall 
have." 

So  the  tin  went  pouring  into  the  ship,  which  soon 
sank  with  all  its  crew  and  its  greedy  captain,  and  was 
lost  to  sight.  But  as  the  ages  went  by,  the  sea  gradually 
sank,  and  Changkat  Rambian,  where  the  Datoh  had 
punished  the  greedy  trader,  became  an  inland  town. 
Near  it  the  Indian  ship,  now  turned  into  stone,  appeared 
in  sight  as  a  glistening  rock,  which  may  still  be  seen 


CHANGKAT  RAMBIAN  137 

among  the  other  rocks  on  the  hill  side.  And  still 
to-day  every  Malay  miner  knows  that  if  he  could  only 
find  the  kompas  sapling  growing  on  the  ant  hill,  he  too 
could  smelt  as  much  tin  as  the  Datoh  did  in  the  long 
ago.  But  though  men  search  and  search,  the  kompas 
tree  on  the  ant  hill  is  never  found. 


NUADHAT  OF  THE  SILVER  HAND  AND 
BALOR  OF  THE  MIGHTY  BLOWS 

AN    IRISH    STORY 

No  one  is  quite  sure  who  were  the  first  people  who  came 
to  live  in  Ireland,  but  a  very  wonderful  history  of  the 
Irish  tells  us  that  many  invaders  came  to  try  to  settle 
there.  A  very  early  king  who  landed  there  found 
the  plains  covered  with  thick  forests,  and  he  and  his 
men  set  to  work  to  cut  them  down,  and  clear  paths  and 
open  spaces  all  over  Ireland.  After  that  many  tales 
were  told  of  this  island,  so  that  a  king  of  Spain  felt 
he  must  visit  it,  and  see  if  it  was  really  as  beautiful 
as  report  said.  He  found  that  it  was  indeed  a  land  full 
of  grain  and  honey,  and  fish  and  fowl,  so  that  men 
might  live  there  at  their  ease. 

Three  of  the  most  famous  races  that  invaded  Ireland 
and  settled  there,  were  the  Fomorians,  the  Firbolgs, 
and  the  Tuatha-de-Danann.  The  Fomorians  are  said 
to  have  settled  in  Ireland,  and  built  many  houses  and 
made  many  clearings  in  the  forest,  but  were  at  last 
driven  out  again,  and  had  to  go  back  to  Greece,  where 
they  stayed  for  many  years.  Some  of  the  descendants 
of  these  Fomorians  came  back  again  to  Ireland,  and 
were  known  as  the  Firbolgs.  These  Firbolgs  were  in 
their  turn  defeated  by  the  Tuatha-de-Danann,  who  are 
said  to  have  been  another  set  of  the  descendants  of 
the  Fomorians.  Nuadhat  was  one  of  the  Tuatha-de- 
Danann,  and  Balor  was  a  Fomorian. 

A  great  battle  took  place  at  Moytura  between  the 
Tuatha-de-Danann,  with  Nuadhat  as  their  leader, 
and  the  Firbolgs.  The  Firbolgs  were  defeated,  but 

138 


NUADHAT  OF  THE  SILVER  HAND       139 

the  Tuatha-de-Danann  suffered  a  great  loss  too,  for 
during  the  battle  the  hand  of  their  leader  Nuadhat  was 
struck  off.  Now  it  was  a  rule  among  them  that  a  man 
who  had  lost  a  limb  could  not  be  their  king,  so  Nuadhat 
gave  up  his  kingship  to  some  one  else.  The  Tuatha-de- 
Danann,  however,  were  very  skilful  both  in  medicine 
and  in  the  working  of  metals.  So  the  most  famous 
silversmith  designed  a  wonderful  silver  hand,  with 
every  joint  and  vein  marked  upon  it  as  clearly  as  on  a 
living  hand.  Then  their  great  doctor  fitted  it  on  to 
Nuadhat's  arm,  but  the  son  of  the  doctor  took  it  off 
again,  and  put  it  on  so  cleverly  this  time  that  it  had 
just  the  same  feeling  and  motion  as  his  own  hand. 
The  making  and  the  fitting-on  of  this  hand  took  full 
seven  years,  and  during  all  that  time  some  one  else  was 
king  of  the  Tuatha-de-Danann,  but  as  soon  as  he  could 
use  his  silver  hand,  they  made  Nuadhat  king  again. 

After  that,  he  reigned  twenty  years,  until  the  second 
battle  of  Moytura,  when  Balor  of  the  Mighty  Blows 
slew  him.  Now  this  is  the  story  of  Balor.  There 
were  once  three  brothers,  one  of  whom  was  so  famous 
a  smith  that  people  from  all  over  Ireland  and  the 
neighbouring  countries  came  to  him  to  have  their 
weapons  made.  Another  brother  named  Mac  Kineely, 
was  lord  of  all  that  district,  and  was  the  fortunate 
possessor  of  a  cow  which  gave  so  much  milk  that  her 
master  became  very  rich  indeed.  His  neighbours  envied 
him  so  much  that  they  were  always  trying  to  steal  the 
cow,  so  that  Mac  Kineely  had  to  watch  her  continually, 
and  had  to  take  her  with  him  when  he  went  on  a 
journey. 

At  the  same  time  there  lived  on  Tory  Island  a  famous 
warrior  named  Balor,  who  had  one  eye  in  the  middle 
of  his  forehead  and  one  directly  opposite  to  it  in  the  back 
of  his  skull.  This  eye  in  the  back  of  Balor's  head  had 
the  dreadful  power  of  striking  dead  anyone  on  whom  its 
glance  should  fall.  Thus  Balor  was  well  armed  in  battle, 
for  he  had  only  to  glance  at  an  enemy  with  this  eye  in 


order  to  strike  him  dead.  It  was,  however,  such  a 
dangerous  gift  that  Balor  generally  kept  his  eye  covered, 
lest  a  glance  from  it  should  fall  on  his  own  friends  and 
followers,  and  kill  them  too,  and  only  uncovered  it 
when  every  other  way  of  defence  had  failed  him. 

He  performed  many  famous  deeds,  captured  many 
ships  and  put  the  adventurous  sea  rovers  into  chains, 
and  often  crossed  from  his  retreat  on  Tory  Island  to 
Ireland  itself  and  carried  off  men  and  property.  One 
thing  he  had  tried  to  do  many  times  but  had  always 
failed — namely,  to  carry  off  Mac  Kineely's  wondrous 
cow,  but  at  last  he  succeeded  by  means  of  cunning. 

Mac  Kineely,  who  was  chief  of  the  land  which  lay 
opposite  to  Tory  Island,  had  come  to  his  brother  the 
smith  to  get  some  swords  forged.  He  had  with  him 
the  cow  fastened  by  a  halter  which  Mac  Kineely  kept 
in  his  hand  all  day.  When  he  reached  the  forge  he 
entrusted  the  cow  to  the  care  of  his  elder  brother, 
so  that  he  might  go  in  to  watch  his  brother  the  smith 
forge  the  swords.  Now  while  he  was  inside,  Balor 
of  the  Red  Hair  came  up  and  told  the  brother  who  was 
holding  the  cow  that  Mac  Kineely  and  the  smith  were 
plotting  to  use  all  the  best  steel  in  Mac  Kineely's 
swords,  and  to  leave  only  poor  stuff  for  their  brother. 
Upon  this  the  brother,  who  did  not  know  Balor,  said 
"  I'll  let  them  know  I'm  not  to  be  cheated  so  easily. 
Hold  this  cow,  my  red-headed  friend,  and  you  shall  see 
how  I  will  make  them  alter  their  plans."  So  saying, 
he  handed  the  halter  to  Balor  and  rushed  into  the 
forge. 

As  swift  as  lightning,  Balor  rushed  to  the  coast  and 
began  to  cross  the  Sound  of  Tory.  Mac  Kineely,  as 
soon  as  he  understood  what  had  happened,  rushed  after 
Balor,  but  could  not  overtake  him,  so  he  returned  to  the 
forge  and  cuffed  his  brother  soundly  about  the  head 
for  his  stupidity.  When  his  passion  had  cooled,  he 
sought  the  lonely  dwelling  of  a  Druid,  and  asked  him 
what  was  the  best  way  to  set  about  recovering  the 


NUADHAT  OF  THE  SILVER  HAND       141 

cow.  The  Druid  told  him  that  he  could  never  recover 
it  as  long  as  Balor  was  alive,  because  the  evil  eye  would 
shrivel  anyone  who  came  near  enough  to  get  the  cow. 
And  sure  enough,  when  Mac  Kineely  died  Balor  was 
still  the  owner  of  the  cow.  But  Balor  did  not  go 
unpunished  for  his  theft.  Mac  Kineely  had  a  son 
who  had  been  brought  up  by  his  uncle  to  be  a  smith, 
for  in  those  days  smiths  were  held  in  great  honour 
throughout  the  world,  and  princes  were  glad  to  learn 
the  craft.  In  fact,  a  man  who  made  a  beautiful  sword 
or  shield  was  held  in  as  much  honour  as  a  man  who 
made  a  beautiful  poem.  Balor  came  to  the  forge 
of  Mac  Kineely"s  son  to  order  some  weapons,  not 
knowing  who  the  smith  was.  Mac  Kineely's  son,  how- 
ever, knew  Balor  at  once,  and  put  an  end  to  his 
wickedness  by  thrusting  a  glowing  rod  from  the  furnace 
into  Balor's  evil  eye. 


SHAU  KANG 

A   CHINESE    STORY 

AN  unworthy  descendant  of  the  great  Yu  of  China  was 
so  feeble  and  indifferent  to  the  needs  of  his  country 
that  a  usurper  arose  who  easily  defeated  him,  put  him 
to  death  and  became  king  himself.  The  usurper 
tried  to  put  to  death  everyone  left  of  the  family  of  Yu, 
but  the  Empress  Min,  widow  of  the  defeated  king, 
managed  to  escape.  She  fled  to  her  native  home, 
Jing,  where  her  father  was  a  chief,  and  here  her  little 
son  was  born. 

The  usurper  heard  of  his  birth  and  tried  to  take 
his  life,  offering  great  rewards  to  anyone  who  would 
bring  him,  dead  or  alive,  to  his  palace.  In  order  to 
hide  the  secret  of  his  birth  his  mother  employed  him 
as  a  shepherd  boy.  For  some  years  Shau  Kang  (such 
was  his  name)  remained  in  obscure  safety  tending 
his  flocks.  But  the  news  of  his  whereabouts  leaked 
out,  so  his  royal  mother  placed  him  as  an  under-cook 
in  the  household  of  the  neighbouring  governor.  Here, 
however,  he  attracted  the  governor's  attention  by  his 
appearance  and  proud  spirit  and  was  forced  to  confess 
his  name  and  birth.  Fortunately  for  him  the  governor 
was  devotedly  attached  to  the  house  of  Yu,  so  he  not 
only  concealed  the  secret,  but  put  Shau  Kang  in  charge 
of  a  small  town,  where  he  was  able  to  gather  a  few  friends 
round  him.  By  great  wisdom  and  patience  he  suc- 
ceeded at  last  in  getting  together  a  sufficiently  strong 
army  to  attack  his  father's  murderer  and  utterly 
defeat  him.  The  people  welcomed  Shau  Kang  eagerly, 
and  attended  at  the  solemn  sacrifices  which  he  offered 

142 


SHAU  KANG  143 

to  his  ancestors  in  gratitude  for  the  help  which  he 
believed  they  had  given  him.  The  neighbouring  tribes 
soon  heard  of  his  good  government  and  hastened  to  sub- 
mit to  him ;  even  the  wild  hordes  of  Fang  came  to  pay 
homage. 

He  showed  his  wisdom  by  restoring  the  Minister  of 
Agriculture,  for  agriculture  was  the  most  important 
factor  in  the  life  of  the  people,  as  his  great  ancestor 
Yu  had  realized.  He  also  appointed  a  special  minister 
to  try  to  regulate  the  waters  of  the  great  Ho  river. 

The  descendants  of  Shau  Kang  were  by  no  means  as 
wise  as  he  was,  and  the  last  of  the  line,  Chieh  Kwei,  ruled 
so  foolishly  and  extravagantly  that  he  was  driven  from 
the  throne  and  his  sons  were  obliged  to  take  refuge 
among  those  wild  barbarian  tribes  of  the  far  north  whose 
ancestors  had  feared  Shau  Kang  and  done  homage  to 
him. 


CHOWSIN  AND  THE  WARLIKE  PRINCE 

A   CHINESE   STORY 

CHOWSIN  was  the  younger  son  of  the  Chinese  king, 
but  was  chosen  to  be  heir  by  his  father  and  mother  in 
preference  to  his  two  elder  brothers.  The  choice  did 
not  turn  out  to  be  a  happy  one,  for  Chowsin  ruled  so 
badly  that  the  Shang  family  of  kings,  which  had  ruled 
China  for  nearly  seven  hundred  years,  and  to  which 
Chowsin  belonged,  was  driven  from  the  throne  and  a 
new  line  of  kings  began. 

Chowsin  was  very  strong  and  very  clever  and  took  a 
great  pride  in  the  physical  strength  which  enabled 
him  to  match  himself  against  the  fiercest  animals.  Un- 
fortunately, however,  he  was  wilful  and  fond  of  selfish 
pleasures,  and  in  trying  to  gratify  these  pleasures  he 
caused  so  much  suffering  to  the  people  under  his  rule 
that  they  soon  learnt  to  hate  him.  Dreadful  stories 
are  told  of  his  cruelties  and  those  of  Take,  a  woman  of 
very  great  beauty  but  of  very  cruel  character,  who 
became  fellow-ruler  with  him.  To  please  her  he 
built  a  wonderful  palace  near  the  Weiho  river.  It 
had  a  magnificent  tower  and  was  surrounded  by  a 
vast  park  which  was  stocked  with  rare  animals  brought 
from  all  parts  of  his  kingdom.  Further  north  he  built 
another  palace  where  there  was  still  greater  extra- 
vagance, one  whole  pond  being  kept  perpetually  filled 
with  wine,  so  that  there  was  constant  drunkenness 
there.  The  building  and  upkeep  of  these  palaces 
meant  that  a  great  deal  of  money  and  forced  labour 
were  exacted  from  the  king's  unfortunate  subjects. 
Beside  the  discontent  which  resulted  from  this,  the 

144 


CHOWSIN  AND  THE  WARLIKE  PRINCE    145 

people  themselves  began  to  follow  the  bad  example 
of  the  king  and  to  put  duty  on  one  side  so  as  to  be 
able  to  give  way  to  idleness  and  luxury.  It  was 
specially  important  at  that  time  for  the  kings  of  China 
to  rule  well  and  to  be  on  their  guard  against  enemies, 
for  the  kingdom  was  very  much  smaller  than  it  is 
now,  lay  further  to  the  north,  and  was  surrounded 
by  fierce  tribes  whose  warlike  princes  were  ever  ready 
to  take  advantage  of  weakness  in  a  neighbouring 
ruler. 

Many  wise  men  tried  to  induce  Chowsin  to  alter 
his  conduct  while  there  was  yet  time  to  save  the 
Shang  family  from  ruin,  for  they  did  not  like  to  break 
their  record  of  loyalty  to  the  kings  who  had  ruled  them 
so  long.  When  Chowsin  introduced  ivory  chopsticks 
in  the  palace,  his  elder  brother  sorrowfully  reminded 
him  that  a  taste  for  expensive  luxuries  was  a  thing  that 
would  probably  grow  and  ruin  him,  saying  that  perhaps 
the  next  things  he  would  make  his  unlucky  subjects 
furnish  for  him  would  be  drinking  cups  cut  out  of 
jewels,  or  bears'  paws  and  leopards'  hearts  for  food. 
But  Chowsin  disregarded  all  his  friends'  counsels,  and 
worse  than  that,  he  put  in  prison  or  executed  all  those 
who  dared  to  reprove  him.  It  is  even  said  that  when 
one  wise  man  rebuked  him  very  severely  and  gave  him 
some  good  advice,  Chowsin  calmly  replied  that  he 
was  glad  to  have  a  sage  in  his  power,  for  he  had  heard 
that  a  wise  man's  heart  was  differently  made  from  an 
ordinary  man's.  Then  he  ordered  the  sage  to  be 
put  to  death  and  his  heart  to  be  examined  to  see 
if  it  really  was  different  from  other  people's.  To 
add  to  the  general  misery  of  the  Chinese  at  this 
time,  floods  and  famine,  the  age-long  perils  of 
China,  broke  out  in  many  parts  of  the  land.  Even 
to-day,  after  twenty  centuries  of  civilization,  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  exaggerate  the  miseries  caused 
in  that  unhappy  country  by  the  recurrence  of  floods, 
famines,  and  the  pestilent  diseases  which  naturally 


146  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

follow  them  and  against  which  man  is  still  very 
helpless. 

At  this  time  there  were  three  men  living  in  China 
whom  Confucius  praises  in  his  history  as  among  the 
most  famous  men  of  olden  times,  both  for  their  learning 
and  their  piety  and  love  of  their  country,  and  also  for 
their  clever  inventions,  among  which  is  said  to  have 
been  the  compass.  These  three  men  were  Wu-Wang, 
the  warlike  prince  who  defeated  the  luxurious  and  idle 
Chowsin,  his  father  Wanwang,  and  his  brother,  the 
Duke  of  Chau.  Their  land  was  in  the  west  and  they 
were  known  as  "  chiefs  of  the  west."  Fortunately 
they  escaped  the  cruel  vengeance  of  Chowsin  and 
established  a  new  family  of  kings  in  China  who  ruled 
for  more  than  eight  hundred  years,  their  greatest 
mistake  in  government  being  that  they  allowed  the 
chiefs  of  various  provinces  to  become  so  power- 
ful that  they  were  always  quarrelling  among  them- 
selves, and  often  had  more  power  than  the  king 
himself. 

The  weak  rule  of  Chowsin  made  the  neighbour- 
ing kingdoms  rise,  and  among  those  who  rebelled 
was  the  kingdom  of  Le.  The  family  of  Wu-Wang 
prepared  a  great  army  and  marched  against  Le. 
When  the  army  had  been  successful,  the  Chief 
of  the  West,  as  its  leader  was  called,  did  not 
return  to  his  home  but  marched  towards  Chowsin's 
capital. 

One  of  Chowsin's  advisers,  filled  with  alarm  for  the 
fate  of  the  Shang  family,  ventured  to  warn  Chowsin 
once  more.  In  the  "  Books  of  Shang"  his  councillor 
is  reported  to  have  said  to  the  king  : — "  Son  of  Heaven, 
Heaven  is  bringing  to  an  end  the  dynasty  of  Shang  ; 
the  wisest  of  men  and  the  greatest  tortoise  equally 
know  nothing  fortunate  for  it.  (The  tortoise  was 
used  by  the  ancient  Chinese  as  a  means  of  foretell- 
ing the  future.)  By  your  wickedness,  O  king,  you 
are  bringing  the  end  on  yourself.  On  this  account 


CHOWSIN  AND  THE  WARLIKE  PRINCE     147 

Heaven  has  cast  us  off,  so  that  there  is  distress  for 
want  of  food,  and  there  is  no  obedience  to  the  laws 
of  the  Empire.  Yea,  our  people  now  all  wish  the 
dynasty  to  perish,  saying,  'Why  does  not  Heaven  send 
down  his  wrath  ?  What  has  the  present  king  to  do 
with  us  ? '  " 

The  king  only  replied,  "  My  life  is  secured  by  the 
decree  of  Heaven."  His  councillor  replied,  "  Your 
crimes,  which  are  many,  are  set  above,  and  can  you  then 
speak  of  your  fate  as  if  you  give  it  in  charge  to  Heaven  ? 
What  can  your  deeds  do  but  bring  ruin  on  your 
country  ?  " 

In  the  meantime  Wu-Wang,  at  the  head  of  a  great 
army,  was  marching  towards  Chowsin's  palace.  He 
finally  assembled  his  army,  and  after  recounting  the  many 
evil  deeds  of  Chowsin  announced  that  Heaven  had 
appointed  him  to  punish  Chowsin  and  to  restore  order 
in  the  troubled  kingdom.  In  the  grey  dawn  of  the 
morning  the  king  Wu-Wang  came  to  the  borders  of 
Chowsin's  country.  Holding  a  battleaxe  ornamented 
with  gold  in  his  left  hand  and  a  white  flag  in  his  right 
he  urged  his  army  to  fight  fiercely,  saying,  "  Far  are  ye 
come,  ye  men  of  the  western  lands.  Lift  up  your  lances, 
join  your  shields  and  raise  your  spears.  Be  like  tigers 
and  panthers,  like  bears  and  grisly  bears,  for  if  you  do 
not  fight  fiercely  you  will  bring  destruction  on  your- 
selves." 

A  fierce  fight  ensued,  but  although  Chowsin  had 
brought  an  immense  army,  far  outnumbering  Wu- 
Wang's,  into  the  field,  he  was  totally  defeated.  This 
was  because  his  men  were  untrained  and  half-hearted 
and  were  no  match  for  the  disciplined  veterans  who 
fought  so  well  under  the  banners  of  their  warlike 
prince,  Wu-Wang,  who  now  became  king.  Chowsin 
fled  to  the  palace  which  he  had  built  for  Take. 
There  he  arrayed  himself  in  his  most  gorgeous 
robes  and  jewels.  Then  he  entered  the  wonderful 
stag  tower,  set  fire  to  it,  and  perished  in  the 


148  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

flames.1  Take,  dressed  in  her  loveliest  robes,  went 
out  to  meet  the  conqueror,  but  his  soldiers  captured 
her  and  put  her  to  death  in  revenge  for  her  many 
cruelties. 

1  Cp.  the  Death  of  Sardanapalus. 


RAMA  AND  SITA 

A    STORY    OF    CEYLON 

A  LITTLE  more  than  a  thousand  years  before  Christ  was 
born,  there  lived  in  a  town  in  Northern  India  a  king 
named  Dasaratha.  Though  the  kingdom  over  which 
he  ruled  was  not  very  large,  for  it  was  only  four  days' 
march  from  his  capital,  Ayodhya,  to  the  next  king's 
capital,  Mithila,  yet  Dasaratha  was  very  wealthy  and 
very  powerful.  This  was  partly  because  his  kingdom 
was  very  fertile  and  easily  cleared  from  the  jungle, 
and  partly  because  he  had  made  himself  overlord  of  most 
of  the  kings  and  princes  around  him,  and  had  made 
them  pay  tribute  to  him. 

Of  his  four  sons,  the  noblest  and  wisest  and  bravest 
was  Rama,  the  hero  of  this  story.  When  Rama  grew 
up  he  heard  that  the  king  of  Mithila  had  agreed  to  give 
his  lovely  daughter  Sita  to  any  prince  who  was  strong 
enough  to  bend  his  mighty  bow.  Many  kings  and 
princes  tried  but  failed,  and  this  was  no  marvel,  for 
the  bow  was  so  heavy  that  it  needed  an  eight  wheeled 
car,  drawn  by  many  elephants,  to  move  it  from  one 
place  to  another.  Among  those  who  tried  was  Ravana, 
the  demon  king  of  Ceylon  (then  called  Lanka).  As 
Ravana  was  trying  to  lift  it,  it  fell  heavily  upon  his  chest 
and  would  have  crushed  him  to  death  had  not  Rama 
arrived  at  that  moment.  He  lifted  the  mighty  bow 
from  Ravana's  chest,  and  snapped  it  in  two  as  if  it 
had  been  a  mere  toy.  Wild  cheers  arose  on  every  side, 
and  Sita,  from  her  throne  upon  an  elephant's  back, 
leaned  down  and  crowned  the  hero  with  a  garland  of 

149 


150  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

flowers.  They  were  afterwards  married,  and  went  to 
live  with  Rama's  father  at  Ayodhya. 

Some  time  afterwards,  Dasaratha,  feeling  that  he  was 
growing  old,  determined  to  place  Rama  on  the  throne 
instead  of  himself.  Now  Rama  had  a  step-brother 
named  Bharat,  whose  mother  hated  Rama  and  longed 
for  the  throne  for  her  own  son  Bharat.  Many  years 
before  this,  King  Dasaratha  had  promised  Bharat's 
mother  that  whatever  she  asked  him  to  do  for  her,  he 
would  at  once  agree  to  do  it.  She  had  forgotten  this 
promise,  but  now  when  her  son  was  in  danger  of  being 
passed  over  by  the  king  she  suddenly  remembered  it. 
Picture  the  grief  of  the  old  King  when  she  reminded  him 
of  this  promise,  and  actually  asked  him  to  banish  Rama 
to  the  forest  for  fourteen  years,  and  to  place  Bharat 
on  the  throne.  So  noble  was  Rama,  however,  that 
he  would  not  dream  of  allowing  his  father  to  incur  the 
shame  of  having  broken  a  promise,  and  cheerfully 
agreed  to  wander  in  the  forest  for  fourteen  years.  Upon 
this,  Sita,  with  many  tears,  implored  him  to  take  her 
with  him  into  exile,  and  Lakshuman,  Rama's  own  brother, 
also  insisted  on  going  with  them.  So  the  three  took  off 
their  silken  garments,  clad  themselves  like  hermits  in 
the  bark  of  trees  and  wandered  forth  into  the  dark 
forest.  The  poor  old  king  was  so  full  of  grief  that  he 
died,  and  as  a  king's  funeral  rites  must  always  be  per- 
formed by  one  of  his  sons,  Bharat's  mother  sent  for  him. 
When  he  came  and  heard  the  whole  story  of  his  mother's 
wickedness,  he  refused  to  become  king.  He  first 
arranged  for  his  father's  body  to  be  burnt  according 
to  the  custom  of  the  land,  and  then  set  out  to  find  Rama 
and  tell  him  of  his  love  for  him,  and  his  grief  at  the 
cruel  plan  of  his  mother. 

When  the  wise  men  of  Ayodhya  saw  that  Bharat  was 
firm  in  his  refusal  to  cheat  his  brother  Rama  of  the 
throne,  they  placed  Rama's  wooden  shoes  upon  the 
throne  in  token  that  he  was  the  real  king  of  Ayodhya. 
Clad  in  the  bark  of  trees,  Bharat  wandered  through 


PLATE  IX 

RAMA 

Bronze  Figure  in  the  British  Museum 


RAMA  AND  SITA  151 

the  forest  till  he  found  Rama  and  Sita,  and  begged 
Rama  to  take  his  place  upon  the  throne.  But  so 
sacred  was  a  promise  held  to  be  that  Rama  felt  he  must 
keep  his  word  and  stay  fourteen  years  in  the  forest. 
He  begged  Bharat  to  take  his  place  as  King,  but  this  he 
refused  to  do  and  went  to  live  a  life  of  penance  to 
atone  for  his  mother's  sin.  Upon  this,  Rama  gave 
his  wooden  shoes  to  Bharat's  younger  brother  to 
take  back  to  Ayodhya  as  a  sign  to  the  people  that 
Rama  had  asked  him  to  rule  in  Ayodhya  till  his 
return. 

For  thirteen  years  Rama  and  Sita  and  Lakshuman 
wandered  in  the  forests  of  the  Deccan,  visiting  many 
holy  shrines,  including  that  at  Allahabad  (then  called 
Prayag)  and  among  the  jungles  to  the  south  east  of 
Allahabad  a  hill  is  still  shown  by  the  natives  as  the  spot 
where  they  lived  for  many  years  in  a  little  hut,  eating 
only  fruits  and  roots,  and  spending  much  of  their 
time  in  prayer  and  penance.  In  their  wanderings, 
they  learned  the  language  of  the  monkey  tribes  of  the 
forests  of  the  Deccan,  and  made  friends  with  many  of 
them. 

Now  Ravana,  King  of  Lanka,  had  been  very  jealous  of 
Rama  ever  since  the  trial  of  strength  for  Sita's  hand. 
Moreover,  he  had  been  told  more  than  once  that  Rama 
would  cause  his  death.  Filled  with  jealousy  and  rage, 
he  made  up  his  mind  to  carry  off  Sita.  It  happened 
that  Rama  had  gone  hunting  deer  to  obtain  their  skin 
for  Sita,  and  Lakshuman  was  guarding  her  hut.  By 
a  trick,  Ravana  persuaded  Lakshuman  to  go  in  search 
of  Rama  and  then  seized  Sita  and  carried  her  off  to 
Lanka.  There  he  shut  her  up  in  the  Asoka  forest, 
and  placed  horrid  demonesses  to  guard  her  and  keep  her 
from  escaping. 

Rama  was  in  a  dreadful  state  of  grief  when  he  re- 
turned and  could  not  find  Sita.  His  grief  was  so  pitiful 
to  behold  that  his  friends  among  the  monkey  tribes, 
especially  their  leader,  Marut,  made  up  their  minds 


152  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

to  help  him  to  conquer  Ravana,  King  of  Lanka, 
and  to  rescue  his  dearly  loved  wife  from  her  awful 
prison. 

Rama  gave  Marut  a  ring  as  a  sign  that  he  was  his 
messenger,  and  the  monkey  chief  set  out  to  reach  Lanka 
and  search  for  the  unhappy  Sita.  Marut  knew  all  about 
forests  and  how  to  find  his  way  through  their  tangles, 
so  he  soon  found  Sita  in  her  forest  prison,  and  gave 
her  the  ring  as  a  greeting  from  Rama.  In  trying  to 
escape  from  Lanka  and  tell  Rama  where  Sita  was, 
Marut  was  caught  and  taken  before  Ravana.  He  was 
not  at  all  afraid  of  the  monster  king,  but  cheerfully 
lengthened  his  tail  out  to  such  an  enormous  extent 
that  its  coils  made  him  a  throne  higher  than  Ravana's  ! 
From  his  perch,  Marut  looked  down  upon  Ravana, 
and  called  him  a  great  rogue,  and  threatened 
that  Rama  would  soon  arrive  in  Lanka  and  kill 
Ravana. 

Upon  this  Ravana,  in  a  terrible  rage,  ordered  his 
servants  to  kill  Marut.  So  clever  was  the  monkey 
chief,  however,  that  their  weapons  could  not  hurt 
him.  Then  Marut  cheerfully  told  Ravana  that  if  his 
servants  could  cover  up  every  bit  of  his  tail  with  cloth 
soaked  in  oil,  they  could  burn  him  to  death.  Upon 
this,  all  the  cloth  and  oil  in  Lanka  were  brought,  out 
Marut  kept  lengthening  and  lengthening  his  tail,  so 
that  there  was  always  a  bit  left  uncovered.  Growing 
impatient,  Ravana  ordered  his  servants  not  to  wait  any 
longer  for  the  tail  to  be  covered,  but  to  set  the  cloth  on 
fire  at  once.  This  just  pleased  Marut,  who  at  once 
dashed  his  tail  at  Ravana,  and  burned  him  badly. 
Then  he  escaped  from  Lanka,  but  not  before  he  had  set 
half  the  forests  there  on  fire. 

Marut,  however,  was  very  careful  not  to  set  on  fire 
the  forest  where  Sita  was  imprisoned.  He  returned 
to  Rama  taking  with  him  an  ornament  that  Sita 
had  worn.  Rama  and  Lakshuman  were  filled  with 
gratitude  to  the  faithful  monkey  chief,  and  im- 


RAMA  AND  SITA  153 

mediately  made  ready  a  huge  army  to  march  against 
Ravana.  As  Marut  was  the  friend  of  Rama,  all  the 
forest  tribes  were  willing  to  help,  and  a  vast  army 
marched  down  to  the  sea  that  lay  between  them  and 
Lanka. 

Here  a  great  difficulty  arose.  How  were  they  to  get 
across  the  sea  ?  Rama  prayed  to  the  sea  for  three 
days,  without  eating  a  morsel  of  food,  but  alas !  the 
sea  did  not  dry  up  for  him. 

Then  Rama  grew  angry  and  set  about  drying  the  sea 
with  the  help  of  a  mighty  weapon.  Upon  this,  the 
sea  grew  alarmed,  and  told  Rama  that  if  the  monkeys 
could  build  a  bridge  across  they  would  be  able  to  cross 
to  Lanka  in  safety.  Upon  this  the  monkeys  brought 
sacred  black  stones  from  the  river,  and  put  the  sign 
of  Rama  on  each  one.  With  these  they  soon  built 
a  bridge  across  to  Lanka,  and  Rama  and  Lakshuman 
and  their  mighty  army,  with  elephants  and  chariots, 
bowmen  and  spearmen,  crossed  over  it  to  Ravana's 
kingdom. 

At  first  Rama's  men  were  much  troubled  by  deadly 
serpents,  but  Marut  persuaded  the  eagles  to  come  and 
kill  the  serpents.  Then  Rama  and  his  army  once  more 
attacked  Ravana  furiously  with  their  bows  and  spears 
and  chariots,  whilst  the  monkeys  rushed  upon  the  enemy 
with  pieces  of  rock  and  stone  and  giant  trunks  of  trees. 
The  struggle  was  long  and  fierce,  and  Rama  and  Laks- 
human engaged  in  battle  many  times  before  they  were 
victorious.  After  each  battle,  Marut  and  the  monkeys 
healed  the  wounded  by  their  clever  use  of  the  herbs 
that  grew  in  the  forest,  and  at  last  Ravana  and  his  army 
were  utterly  destroyed. 

Then  Rama  rescued  Sita  and  held  great  feasts  for 
all  who  had  helped  him  and  gave  them  many  rich 
presents.  Marut,  however,  refused  to  accept  any 
presents  from  Rama.  When  the  other  monkeys  asked 
him  the  reason  of  this,  he  replied,  "  Why  do  I  want 
presents  from  Rama  ?  Rama  is  always  in  my  heart." 


154  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

When  Rama  was  established  on  his  throne  in  Ayodhya 
once  more,  all  the  other  chiefs  and  princes  left  him 
and  returned  to  their  homes.  But  Marut  refused  to 
leave  Rama  and  Sita  and  stayed  with  them  for  ever 
after  this. 


THE  LAKE  DWELLERS 

A   SWISS   STORY 

MANY  thousands  of  years  ago  a  tribe  of  people  went 
wandering  through  what  is  now  Switzerland  trying  to 
find  a  new  home  for  themselves.  I  don't  know  what 
had  happened  to  make  them  leave  their  old  home. 
Perhaps  enemies  had  driven  them  away,  or  perhaps 
there  had  been  no  rain  for  so  long  that  streams  were 
drying  and  food  was  scarce,  or  perhaps  they  had  heard 
tales  of  other  lands  which  made  them  despise  their 
own.  Perhaps  the  tribe  had  grown  so  large  that  it  was 
necessary  for  some  of  them  to  find  new  homes.  At  any 
rate  they  set  out  with  their  wives  and  children,  and 
animals  and  seeds,  and  as  much  food  as  they  could  get 
together  for  their  journey.  Now  at  that  time  there 
were  neither  roads,  nor  railways,  nor  big  towns,  and 
a  great  part  of  the  land  was  covered  with  thick 
forests  which  were  places  of  great  difficulty  for  these 
wanderers.  Even  when  armed  with  guns,  men  are 
sometimes  overpowered  by  bears  and  wolves,  and  these 
poor  wanderers  lived  so  very  long  ago  that  they  had 
not  even  learnt  how  to  use  metals,  but  had  only  weapons 
and  tools  made  of  stone,  flint,  horn,  bone,  and  wood. 
So  you  can  easily  guess  that  the  miles  and  miles  of  dark, 
unknown,  pathless  forests  were  places  of  dread  and 
terror  to  them,  and  that  they  were  very  anxious  to 
make  their  new  village  safe  from  the  attacks  of  the 
wild  forest  creatures,  men  or  beasts. 

As  you  will  see  from  your  map,  Switzerland  has  many 
lakes,  and  these  men  built  their  villages  on  the  lake. 
That  seems  a  very  difficult  task  for  these  wanderers, 


156  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

but  it  had  been  their  age-long  custom  to  build  in  this 
way,  and  traces  of  their  lake  dwellings  are  found  in  many 
places  besides  Switzerland.  The  first  thing  they  did 
was  to  cut  down  the  branches  and  trunks  of  trees  and 
sharpen  them  so  as  to  make  pointed  stakes  which  could 
be  driven  into  the  bed  of  the  lake — not  an  easy  task, 
for  they  had  only  stone  axes.  It  is  not  surprising, 
therefore,  that  men  did  not  cut  many  ways  through 
the  forest  until  they  had  learnt  to  use  iron.  However 
the  men  of  the  tribe  set  to  work  bravely  to  cut  down 
enough  trees  to  make  timber  for  their  home.  It  may 
have  been  done  by  first  making  a  groove  with  their 
stone  axes  and  then  sprinkling  sand  and  grit  in  the 
groove.  Then  stone  tools  were  worked  upon  the  grit 
and  sand,  and  after  much  labour  the  trunk  was  hacked 
through.  When  they  had  sharpened  the  stakes  they 
drove  them  into  the  bed  of  the  lake  so  as  to  make  a  narrow 
path  out  into  the  middle.  There  they  drove  in  so  many 
piles  that  they  were  able  to  make  a  great  platform  on 
which  to  build  their  village.  On  the  whole  the  lake- 
dwellers  were  a  peaceful  people  who  wanted  to  settle 
down  in  a  home  where  they  could  grow  their  crops 
and  rear  their  flocks.  They  did  not  care  for  the  wild 
wandering  life  of  the  hunting  warlike  tribes  in  the 
forest. 

While  the  men  were  busy  with  all  this,  and  with 
hunting  and  fishing,  the  women  were  busy  planting 
seeds,  caring  for  the  sheep,  and  spinning  flax  and  wool 
which  they  made  into  beautiful  clothes.  They  also 
made  hair  nets  and  sacks,  and  nets  for  fishing,  fine  strong 
ropes  and  mats  for  the  floors  of  their  new  houses,  wicker- 
work  baskets  and  earthenware  pots,  and  spoons  and  cups 
and  dishes. 

As  to  the  canoes  and  bows  and  arrows  and  wonderful 
things  to  help  in  the  spinning  and  weaving,  and  the  many 
very  useful  things  they  made  of  wood  and  horn  and 
stone  and  flint,  there  were  so  many  of  them  that  I 
cannot  describe  them  all.  If  you  are  interested,  try 


THE  LAKE  DWELLERS  157 

to  go  to  a  museum  to  study  these  things  for  yourself. 
These  folk  of  long  ago,  though  they  could  neither 
write  nor  read,  were  not  only  very  patient  and  hard 
working,  but  must  have  been  very  clever  indeed  to  make 
so  many  things  without  metals,  and  to  find  out  how 
to  spin  and  weave  and  how  to  make  their  strange  lake 
dwellings. 

Herodotus  tells  us  that  lake  dwellers  in  N.  Greece 
made  villages  on  piles  with  a  two-roomed  hut  for  each 
man,  in  which  was  a  hearth  for  cooking  and  a  trap 
door  by  which  a  basket  or  fishing-net  could  be  let 
down  into  the  lake  to  obtain  fish.  The  mothers  had 
a  very  anxious  time,  for  they  were  afraid  that  their 
babies  would  roll  into  the  water  when  they  were  play- 
ing, but  they  soon  learnt  to  tie  the  little  ones  by  the  feet 
to  the  door  of  the  cottage,  and  thus  keep  them  out  of 
harm's  way.  Whenever  a  man  of  the  tribe  married 
and  wanted  a  new  house  he  had  to  cut  enough  wood  to 
make  piles.  Then  he  had  to  drive  them  firmly  into  the 
bed  of  the  lake  and  build  his  own  cottage.  Enemies 
who  attacked  the  lake  dwellers  found  it  almost  impossible 
to  reach  their  homes,  for  if  they  came  across  the  narrow 
bridge  they  could  only  come  one  at  a  time  and  it  was 
very  easy  for  the  lake  dwellers  to  drive  them  back,  as 
you  will  know  if  you  think  how  Horatius  kept  a  whole 
army  at  bay.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  enemies  tried  to 
reach  the  island  dwelling  in  canoes,  the  lake  dwellers 
could  easily  protect  themselves  by  throwing  stones 
and  heavy  weapons.  Then,  too,  the  piles  made  it  very 
difficult  for  the  enemy  to  come  near,  and  of  course 
a  whole  army  could  not  come  in  that  way,  but  only 
a  few  men  at  a  time,  whom  it  was  easier  to  defeat. 
Indeed  so  secure  were  these  clever  people  in  their  strange 
homes  that  even  when  men  had  long  known  the  use  of 
metals  and  had  cut  down  many  of  the  forests,  they 
were  still  able  to  defend  their  homes  easily. 

Herodotus  tells  us  that  a  great  Persian  general  who 
attacked  them  at  the  head  of  a  thoroughly  well-trained 


158  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

army,  which  had  all  sorts  of  weapons,  was  quite  unable 
to  conquer  them,  though  he  easily  conquered  and  carried 
off  their  neighbours  who  dwelt  on  land. 

The  story  is  as  follows.  Two  brothers  wished  to  make 
themselves  kings  over  the  tribes  who  lived  in  and  around 
the  lakes.  They  had  a  very  beautiful  sister,  and  they 
had  heard  that  the  king  of  the  Persians  was  a  very  great 
warrior.  They  thought  that  if  Darius  fell  in  love  with 
their  sister  and  married  her,  he  would  help  them  to 
become  rulers  over  their  fellow-countrymen. 

So  they  waited  till  a  certain  day  when  Darius  was 
going  to  pass  that  way.  Then  they  dressed  their  tall, 
beautiful  sister  in  the  very  richest  garments  they  had, 
and  sent  her  to  the  river  to  draw  water.  She  bore  a 
pitcher  on  her  head,  and  as  she  walked  along  she  led  a 
horse  with  one  hand  and  span  flax  with  the  other. 
Of  course  Darius  noticed  her  and  sent  his  men  to  watch 
what  she  would  do.  The  men  followed  her  and  saw,  to 
their  great  astonishment,  that  when  she  had  filled  the 
pitcher  with  water,  she  put  it  on  her  head  and  came 
back  even  with  that  heavy  weight  on  her  head,  still 
leading  the  horse  with  one  hand  and  twirling  her  spindle 
with  the  other. 

King  Darius  was  so  much  astonished  at  her  beauty 
and  cleverness  and  industry  that  he  ordered  her  to  be 
brought  before  him.  The  brothers,  who  had  been 
watching  all  the  time,  came  too.  When  Darius  asked 
them  from  what  country  they  came  and  whether  all 
the  women  in  that  country  worked  as  hard  as  their  sister, 
they  eagerly  assured  him  that  they  did  and  told  him 
where  their  country  was.  They  did  not  feel  so  pleased, 
however,  when  Darius,  instead  of  helping  them,  decided 
that  he  would  like  to  have  such  clever,  hard-working 
people  living  in  his  own  country,  and  sent  his  general 
and  a  great  army  to  make  these  people  slaves  and  bring 
them  to  Persia  to  work  for  King  Darius. 

Now  this  general  found  it  easy  to  capture  the  people 
who  lived  in  the  villages  on  the  land,  but  though  he  tried 


THE  LAKE  DWELLERS  159 

very  hard  to  conquer  the  lake  dwellers  he  was  quite 
unable  to  reach  them,  and  had  to  go  away  and  leave  them 
secure  in  their  queer  homes. 

But  though  the  lake  dwellers  were  able  to  escape  their 
other  enemies,  there  was  one  enemy  that  very  often 
held  them  fiercely  in  his  grip  and  forced  them  to  leave 
their  homes.  That  enemy  was  fire,  which  often  broke 
out  in  their  wooden  dwellings,  as  one  might  easily  guess. 
These  very  fires  are  the  means  by  which  we  have  learnt 
so  much  of  the  life  of  the  early  stone-using  lake  dwellers. 
For  the  charred  bits  of  linen  and  woollen  materials 
lasted  on  through  all  the  centuries  till  men  dug  and  found 
them  among  the  piles,  while  unburnt  woven  materials 
would  have  rotted  away  long  ago  in  the  water  and  left 
no  trace. 


APPENDICES 

THE  USE  OF  TRADITIONAL  STORIES  IN  THE 
TEACHING   OF   GEOGRAPHY  AND    HISTORY 


I 

TRADITION  AND  GEOGRAPHY 

GEOGRAPHY  and  History  have  one  common  link :  each 
concentrates  on  the  study  of  human  experience.  The 
historian  attempts  to  interpret  the  records  of  the  men 
and  of  the  world  of  the  past,  the  geographer  those  of  the 
men  and  the  world  of  the  present.  This  study  of  human 
experience  is  of  profound  importance  to-day,  when 
facilities  for  rapid  communication  have  made  the  nations 
of  the  world  so  sensitively  inter-dependent  one  upon 
the  other  that  every  new  development  in  even  the 
smallest  and  weakest  unit  of  government  either  adds 
to  or  lessens  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  strongest. 
If  history  and  geography  are  to  take  their  proper  place 
in  the  preparation  of  the  world  citizens  of  the  future, 
they  must  be  based  upon  the  broadest  concepts,  upon 
appreciation  of  the  fact  that  all  nations  have  had  their 
heroes,  their  ideals,  their  moments  of  fine  disregard 
for  material  outlook  upon  life  when  in  pursuit  of  those 
ideals.  It  must  be  recognized  that  the  term  "  en- 
vironment "  can  no  longer  be  used  to  define  merely  the 
physical  characters  of  the  district  into  which  man  is 
born ;  the  social  and  intellectual  environment  into 
which  he  is  born  is  an  equally  potent  factor.  The  child 
of  the  native  in  the  government  reserve  and  the  child 
of  the  white  settler  in  the  land  may  have  an  identical 
physical  environment — but  the  world  is  a  very  different 
place  for  them. 

Folk  tales  are  a  picturesque  and  vivid  introduction 
to  these  broad  concepts  of  mutual  appreciation  and 
understanding,  both  of  the  other  man's  point  of  view 

163 


1 64  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

and  abo  of  the  differing  elements  in  his  surroundings 
and  in  himself  which  have  led  to  his  different  out- 
look on  life.  They  are  of  special  importance  to  the 
geographer,  partly  because  they  frequently  envisage 
a  wholly  foreign  atmosphere  in  a  few  clear  cut  phrases 
and  partly  because  they  are  universal,  for  man  in  every 
land  and  every  age,  no  matter  whether  his  culture  is 
simple  or  complex,  has  always  retained  enough  of  the 
child  spirit  to  enjoy  telling  and  hearing  a  good  story. 
From  time  immemorial — probably  from  the  time  when 
man  first  learned  to  translate  his  thoughts  into  speech 
— stories  of  what  happened  "  once  upon  a  time  "  have 
held  universal  sway.  And  from  that  day  to  this  fathers 
and  mothers,  village  elders,  priests,  desert  wanderers 
and  ocean  traders  have  handed  on  traditional  stories 
to  spell-bound  audiences  in  every  part  of  the  globe. 

The  teacher  who  wishes  to  make  a  serious  study  of 
folk  tales  and  national  stories  as  an  introduction  to 
geography  must  be  keenly  alive  to  the  fact  that  in 
past  times  man's  outlook  on  the  world  was  necessarily 
very  dependent  upon  the  particular  geographic  back- 
ground which  nature  had  prepared  for  him.  This 
placed  strict  limits  upon  his  experience  and  social 
opportunities,  coloured  vividly  the  tales  with  which  he 
amused  his  leisure  and  even  modified  his  mind  so  pro- 
foundly that  his  environment  became  reflected  in  his 
conception  of  life  and  its  problems.  But  I  would  like 
to  make  it  clear  that,  though  most  traditions  gain  in 
depth  if  their  home  is  carefully  studied  in  all  its  geo- 
graphic aspects,  climate,  vegetation,  topography,  race 
type,  means  of  communication  with  and  knowledge  of 
the  outside  world,  the  geographical  aspect  is  only  one 
factor  in  their  creation.  No  environmental  necessity 
of  adaptation  affects  any  two  living  things  in  the  same 
way — some  inherent  difference  makes  one  meet  winter 
cold  and  scarcity  of  food  by  hibernating,  another  by 
migrating,  another  by  developing  different  coverings 
and  habits.  The  chill  and  hunger  were  the  same 


APPENDICES  165 

for  each,  but  individuality  determined  the  particular 
response.  So  with  man's  tales — one  traces  in  them 
that  physical  and  social  environment  had  a  share  in 
moulding  expression  and  fancy,  but  feels  that  the  factor 
of  the  individual  response  is  incalculable. 
As  Shaughnessy  says : 

"  One  man  with  a  dream,  at  pleasure, 

Shall  go  forth  and  conquer  a  crown, 
And  three  with  a  new  song's  measure 
Can  trample  a  kingdom  down." 

One  man  with  a  dream  can  break  the  iron  force  of  age- 
long passive  acquiescence  in  social  and  physical  con- 
ditions. Peter  of  Russia  dreamed  of  the  western  seas, 
and  Petrograd  remains  to-day  a  memorial  of  the  triumph 
of  the  intangible  over  stern  geographic  disabilities. 
But  the  cumulative  effect  of  continued  individual  and 
group  resistance  to  the  bonds  of  time  and  type  and  place 
is  even  more  potent.  For  in  spite  of  much  diversity 
there  is  an  underlying  spiritual  unity  in  man's  efforts 
to  mould  his  environment  to  his  dreams  and  to  make 
himself  master  of  his  fate,  so  that  humanity  to-day  is 
increasingly  independent  of  mere  physical  environment, 
and  this  independence  reacts  again  in  making  it  more 
possible  to  loosen  some  of  the  bonds  of  social  and  in- 
tellectual environment. 

The  Hebrew  stories  of  the  infancy  of  the  world  have 
a  beauty  and  an  arresting  simplicity  that  has  never 
been  surpassed.  The  ancient  dwellers  in  the  lands  that 
lie  to  the  south-east  of  the  Mediterranean  led  a  wander- 
ing life,  carrying  their  tents  and  possessions  with  them, 
and  were  not  occupied  in  taking  care  of  their  houses 
and  lands  nor  in  building  and  ruling  great  cities.  Many 
of  them  were  shepherds  who,  in  the  long  dry  season  when 
the  grass  withered  and  the  streams  failed,  had  to  lead 
their  flocks  far  afield  in  search  of  pasture.  The  certain 
recurrence  of  this  dry,  difficult  season  made  them  ponder 
on  the  future  and  take  much  thought  for  it.  Others 


1 66  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

were  traders  who  crossed  the  great  deserts,  often  find- 
ing it  easier  to  travel  in  the  cool  evening  under  the 
brilliant  stars.  It  was  no  doubt  this  leisurely  life  of 
wandering  in  vast  places,  this  .familiarity  with  wide 
quiet  solitudes  and  with  the  great  firmament  above, 
that  helped  to  enrich  their  traditions.  But  the  factor 
that  made  them  so  unique  that  the  rest  of  the  world  has 
been  glad  to  borrow  and  enjoy  them  was  perhaps  the 
necessity  of  handing  on  to  each  generation  the  accumu- 
lated experience  of  past  generations.  In  this  difficult 
desert  fringe,  where  mistakes  had  such  serious  conse- 
quences, it  was  essential  to  hear  the  voice  of  wisdom  and 
obey  it.  Perhaps  it  is  not  too  much  to  see  in  the  Hebrew 
version  of  the  origin  of  death  through  disobedience 
the  effect  of  the  ideal  of  obedience  to  the  elder  of  the 
tribe  developed  as  a  response  to  the  difficulties  and 
dangers  of  a  nomad  life.  But  it  should  be  noted  too 
that  one  race  meets  the  desert  fringe  problem  by 
irrigation  and  co-operation,  another  by  nomadism 
and  predatory  habits.  Outstanding  examples  of  Old 
Testament  stories  useful  to  the  geographer  are  Adam 
and  Eve,  with  its  emphasis  on  the  supplanting  of  the 
earlier  fruit-gathering  stage  of  humanity  by  the  later 
hunting  and  agricultural  communities ;  Cain  and  Abel, 
the  first  of  the  long  series  of  tragedies  that  have  resulted 
and  still  result  from  the  quarrels  between  the  tiller  of 
the  soil  and  the  herder  of  flocks — this  quarrel  is  written 
large  on  the  social  history  of  rural  England  :  Abraham 
and  Isaac,  the  pastoral  life  in  early  days  :  Joseph  and 
his  Brethren,  a  vivid  picture  of  the  camel  traders 
of  Damascus  and  the  early  contacts  between  Semitic 
and  Egyptian  civilization  :  Saul  and  David  struggling 
against  the  Philistines,  the  nomad  shepherds  endeavour- 
ing to  preserve  their  customs  against  the  invading 
influences  of  towns  in  close  contact  with  Crete  and  the 
./Egean  isles :  Solomon's  alliance  with  the  traders  of 
Tyre  and  Sidon,  showing  that  the  new  town  life  had 
proved  the  stronger.  The  whole  of  the  Old  Testament 


APPENDICES  167 

teems  with  examples  of  the  effect  of  the  conflict  between 
the  conservative  shepherds  of  the  Judaean  hills  and  the 
trading  luxurious  dwellers  in  the  northern  Canaanitish 
and  Samaritan  towns.  Bearing  in  mind  the  long- 
continued  contacts  with  other  civilizations  which  the 
Shephelah,  Sharon,  Galilee  and  Samaria  experienced 
because  they  lay  upon  routes  linking  Europe,  Asia 
Minor,  Mesopotamia,  the  ^Egean  isles  and  Egypt,  and 
the  absence  of  any  such  contacts  in  the  hills  and  semi- 
desert  lands  of  Judea,  it  is  plain  that  mere  topographical 
position  may  have  a  great  influence  on  the  development 
of  ideals  and  cultures.  An  appreciation  of  the  great 
role  which  agriculture  has  played  in  the  growth  of  the 
older  civilizations  is  clearly  developed  by  a  study  of 
the  stories  from  Egypt,  the  Mesopotamian  lands,  India 
and  China.  The  lands  where  agriculture  has  brought 
great  increments  have  always  been  the  lands  of  leisure 
for  devotion  to  the  arts  and  crafts  and  to  the  pursuit 
of  knowledge.  The  mapping  of  the  lands  where  arts 
and  crafts  developed  earliest,  based  on  stories  pre- 
viously told  and  illustrated  by  photographs  and  pictures 
of  the  beautiful  pottery,  jewels,  statuary  and  buildings 
of  those  early  days,  or  better  still  by  actual  objects  from 
a  museum,  would  form  an  interesting  commentary 
on  the  importance  of  the  lands  where  agriculture  is 
the  basis  of  life.  Professor  Breasted  has  coined  the 
term  the  "  Fertile  Crescent  "  for  the  fringe  of  cultiv- 
able lands  bordering  the  Arabian  desert  and  stretching 
in  an  arc  from  Egypt  to  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  his 
map  and  discussion  of  the  effect  of  this  Fertile  Crescent 
on  the  life  of  Western  Asia  are  very  illuminating.  A 
social  system  based  on  agriculture  is  bound  to  be  stable, 
for  it  necessitates  the  attachment  to  the  soil  of  a  great 
majority  of  the  workers,  and  in  addition  it  demands 
a  certain  orderliness  and  much  co-operative  effort. 
Once  shattered  by  misrule  it  is  extraordinarily  difficult 
to  resuscitate,  as  one  realizes  in  contemplating  such 
things  as  the  havoc  of  Mexican  culture  wrought  by  the 


1 68  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

careless  forest  cutting  of  Spanish  Invaders,  the  ruin 
of  Mesopotamian  agriculture  when  irrigation  ceased 
to  be  the  first  care  of  its  rulers,  or  the  malarial  swamps 
that  were  once  prosperous  Roman  farms.  It  is  interest- 
ing in  passing  to  note  that  the  only  ancient  civilization 
which  survives  almost  unchanged  to  the  present  day 
is  that  of  the  Chinese,  the  "  Farmers  of  Forty  Cen- 
turies," as  King  has  picturesquely  phrased  it,  the 
civilization  which  alone  has  held  the  farmer  in  as  high 
honour  as  the  soldier.  If  this  is  mere  coincidence,  it 
is  at  any  rate  a  significant  coincidence.  Maurice 
Hewlett  in  his  "  Song  of  the  Plough  "  has  given  the  epic 
of  the  persistence  of  the  tiller  of  the  soil  in  a  land 
where  nature  has  given  a  grudging  and  irregular  response 
to  his  efforts,  and  where  his  fellow-man  has  been  even 
less  generous.  An  epic  record  of  the  patience  and 
persistence  of  the  Chinese  tiller  of  the  soil  during  forty 
centuries  of  world  happening  would  indeed  make 
thrilling  reading.  Stories  based  on  agriculture  will 
readily  occur  to  the  teacher,  ranging  from  the  familiar 
and  beautiful  story  of  Ceres  and  Persephone,  the  legend 
of  Ishtar,  the  partition  of  the  body  of  Osiris  to  ensure 
fertility  in  the  nomes  where  it  was  buried,  and  the  later 
celebration  of  his  worship  by  the  making  of  images  in 
Nile  mud  in  which  seeds  of  corn  were  sprouted,  Joseph 
and  the  corn  in  Egypt,  to  the  story  of  Prince  Rice  in 
Plenty  in  the  Far  East.  Less  obvious  stories  are  those 
which  tell  of  the  coming  in  of  settlers  who  bring  new 
devices  to  help  agriculture,  e.g.  Triptolemus  and  the 
plough  in  Greece,  Eochaid  and  the  yoking  of  the  oxen 
in  Ireland. 

A  series  of  creation  myths  studied  from  the  geo- 
graphic point  of  view  is  most  instructive.  The  vital 
difference  between  the  Hebrew  belief  in  one  orthodox 
story  ot  the  creation  of  man  and  the  varied  Gr^ek 
legends,  almost  as  numerous  as  their  city  states  (e.g. 
Kekrops  and  Athens,  the  Dragon's  teeth  and  Thebes, 
the  Ants  and  Egina)  is  surely  connected  with  the 


APPENDICES  169 

numerous  triangular  coastal  valleys  separated  from  the 
mainland  and  from  one  another  by  the  fingering  out  of 
the  great  fold  mountains  which  led  to  the  formation  of 
the  isolated  city  states  of  Greece  and  Asia  Minor. 
The  Babylonian  emphasis  on  the  fact  that  in  the  be- 
ginning no  reed  had  yet  sprung  up,  no  brick  had  been 
made,  nor  were  there  any  cities,  nor  any  temples  for 
the  city  gods  is  suggestive  of  what  was  most  essential 
in  Babylonian  life.  The  quaint  West  African  story 
with  its  background  of  the  fear  of  the  beasts  of  the 
forest  and  of  the  monkey  intermediary  between  man 
and  his  maker  has  a  flavour  of  life  in  the  tropic  forests. 
The  beauty  of  the  Polynesian  story  is  unexpected  and 
is  reminiscent  of  the  early  Egyptian  theories  of  the 
separation  of  earth  and  sky,  so  often  represented  on 
their  monuments.  Other  examples  will  readily  suggest 
themselves. 

In  the  answers  which  myth  and  tradition  give  to  that 
most  puzzling  and  yet  most  insistent  problem,  the 
question  of  death,  the  influence  of  environment  is  clearly 
to  be  traced.  The  very  marked  difference  between  the 
story  of  how  death  came  into  the  world  taken  from 
the  Mahabharata  and  that  taken  from  N.  American 
mythology  brings  home  the  contrast  between  life 
in  the  crowded  Ganges  valley,  with  its  famines  and 
spreading  plagues  and  life  in  the  spacious  hunting 
grounds  at  the  foot  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The 
N.  American  story  has  other  variants.  In  the  grim 
forest  region  further  east  there  are  no  light  touches 
about  fun  with  the  babies.  Here  death  is  said  to  be 
the  will  of  a  little  bird,  "  For  how  should  I  nest  me  in 
your  warm  graves  if  ye  men  never  die  ?  "  While  in 
the  Arctic  regions  of  the  north  the  version  is  that  two 
old  women  debate  the  question.  One  says,  "  Will  ye 
have  eternal  darkness  and  eternal  life,  or  light  and 
death  ?  "  The  other  replies,  "  Let  us  do  without 
light  forever  if  so  we  may  do  without  death."  "  Nay," 
answers  the  first,  "  Let  us  have  both  light  and  death." 


170  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

This  is  only  one  instance  of  the  way  in  which  a  primitive 
theme  may  put  on  adaptive  colouring  to  meet  the 
needs  of  a  new  environment.  But  many  such  instances 
are  to  be  found  among  the  folk  tales  of  N.  America, 
Polynesia,  and  other  places  where  there  has  been  suffi- 
cient movement  of  native  peoples  once  in  close  con- 
tact to  make  the  story  from  the  old  home  require 
new  settings  to  suit  new  needs.  Anyone  who  has 
compared  the  legend  of  Ishtar  with  the  story  of  Per- 
sephone will  realize  that  a  new  home  may  make  great 
modifications  in  beauty  of  ideal. 

In  Egyptian  mythology,  again,  we  find  little  trace 
of  an  endeavour  to  explain  the  origin  of  death,  though 
death  and  the  Kingdom  of  the  Dead  occupy  an  over- 
whelming amount  of  attention.  This  may  be  ac- 
counted for  by  the  fact  that  the  Egyptian  found  himself 
living  on  a  mere  intrusive  ribbon  of  life  surrounded 
by  a  vast  solitude  of  death  and  desert.  The  desert 
where  life  was  silenced,  the  desert  to  which  he  com- 
mitted his  dead  from  the  sheer  necessity  of  keeping 
sacred  the  little  fertile  strip  on  which  all  life  depended 
was  the  supreme  certainty  about  which  there  was  no 
question.  The  fertile  strip  was  uncertain  and  might 
narrow  to  disaster  if  the  river  failed.  But  death  and  the 
desert  were  unchanging  and  ever  present.  Even  the 
ideals  of  the  life  after  death  bear  the  imprint  of  chang- 
ing climatic  conditions — The  Egyptian  pictured  the 
pleasant  land  of  Osiris  as  a  "  cool  misty  kingdom " 
where  the  souls  of .  the  good  were  leisurely  rowed  on 
canals  and  passed  their  time  playing  draughts.  But 
the  Icelandic  theory  was  that  the  land  of  cool  fog  and 
mist  was  a  punishment  for  the  evil-minded  and  the 
promised  reward  for  heroes  was  to  occupy  their  leisure 
in  fighting  and  feasting. 

Another  aspect  of  folk  tales  for  the  geographer  is 
the  inevitable  colouring  of  a  narrative  by  the  teller's 
own  experience.  For  of  necessity  the  traditions  of  a 
nation  or  a  race  or  a  family  are  based  mainly  on  the 


APPENDICES  171 

things  with  which  they  are  familiar.  Experience  of 
anything  unaccustomed  may  make  so  deep  an  im- 
pression that  it  becomes  the  central  factor  in  a  story, 
but  the  intimate  things  of  everyday  life  will  creep 
into  the  narrative  in  all  sorts  of  subtle  and  unconscious 
ways.  Consider,  for  instance,  the  following  similes 
as  indices  of  the  differing  surroundings  of  the  writers : 
The  Hindu  sighing  like  a  snake,  the  dweller  by  the 
Tigris  and  Euphrates  sighing  like  a  bed  of  reeds,  and 
the  Englishman  sighing  like  a  furnace.  The  very 
names  in  some  of  the  stones  are  full  of  meaning,  e.g. 
Prince  "  Rice  in  Plenty "  and  Princess  "  Blossoming 
Brilliantly  like  the  Flowers  upon  the  Trees,"  in  the 
Japanese  story.  Even  the  names  Fire-Shine  and  Fire- 
Subside  gain  in  meaning  when  a  study  of  social  life 
makes  us  realize  that  they  depend  upon  a  very  cruel 
Japanese  tradition. 

This  makes  it  important  that  stories  shall  be  based 
upon  as  close  translation  of  the  original  as  possible  : 
those  stories  translated  by  natives  who  have  an  im- 
perfect acquaintance  with  the  English  language  often 
convey  another  atmosphere  very  helpfully.  It  is  quite 
impossible  for  a  "  home-made  "  story  to  depict  a  foreign 
atmosphere  with  either  the  vividness  or  the  truth  of 
the  story  shaped  and  remoulded  and  handed  down  by 
the  dwellers  in  the  land.  And,  though  the  collection 
of  stories  from  other  lands  may  involve  a  great  deal  of 
time  and  trouble  if  one  is  to  get  the  best  material,  the 
collector  will  be  amply  repaid  by  the  interest  and  value 
of  the  results  of  his  labour.  No  tale  written  by  an 
Englishman  could  have  given  English  children  such  a 
picture  of  another  world  as  the  story  of  "  Prince  Fire- 
Shine  and  Fire-Subside."  "  The  Coming  of  Tuina  "  is 
another  example  of  the  value  of  the  native  story,  with 
its  introduction  of  quaint  incidental  details  of  primitive 
life. 

Stories  that  depend  upon  old  trading  connections  are 
generally  specially  vivid  in  their  appeal.  The  story  of 


ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

Sanehat  and  the  legend  of  the  Possessed  Princess  are 
useful  introductions  to  the  study  of  the  relations  be- 
tween Egyptian,  Semitic,  and  Hittite  cultures.  The 
"  Churning  of  the  Ocean,"  seems  to  be,  as  Elliot  Smith 
and  Oldham  suggest,  a  very  early  account  of  monsoon 
trading.  Another  such  story  is  "  Changkat  Rambian." 
In  early  times  there  was  a  marked  tendency  for  the 
old  trading  or  military  ways  to  form  a  thread  on  which 
heroic  tales  were  linked,  and  when  the  heyday  of  the 
routes  had  passed  a  sunset  radiance  of  romance  still 
lingered  about  their  half-forgotten  tracks.  This  tendency 
may  be  observed  all  over  the  world.  The  wanderings 
of  lo,  the  epic  of  Ulysses,  the  story  of  the  Argonaut, 
are  the  travellers'  tales  of  the  trading  links  between 
the  civilizations  that  bordered  on  the  Mediterranean, 
and  of  the  land  and  sea  raiders  who  "  shared  the  fun  " 
when  it  was  a  question  of  a  sack  of  a  town  or  so,  as 
Myres  suggests.  "  The  Rig  Veda  "  the  "  Mahabharata  " 
and  the  "  Ramayana  "  are  epics  of  the  old  routes  that 
brought  invaders  from  beyond  the  Khaibar  pass  into 
touch  with  the  southernmost  parts  of  India  and  Ceylon. 
The  prayers  and  invocations  which  form  the  Rig  Veda 
are  specially  interesting  because  of  their  emphasis  on 
the  need  of  the  clouds,  the  rain-bearers,  whose  cult 
replaces  that  of  the  sun  and  the  river  so  typical  of 
Egypt  and  Babylonia.  The  story  of  the  "  Sons  of 
Pandu "  shows  us  the  invaders  taking  advantage  of 
the  isthmus  of  scanty  lowland  vegetation  between  the 
Thar  desert  on  the  south  and  the  forested  slopes  of 
Himalaya  on  the  north,  to  make  a  beginning  of  the 
clearing  of  the  primeval  forest  where  it  thinned  out 
towards  Delhi.  From  the  bases  which  they  established 
here  they  were  able  to  extend  their  forest  clearing  process 
to  the  monsoonal  forested  belt  on  the  northern  slopes 
of  the  Deccan,  which  had  so  long  cut  off  Northern 
from  Southern  India.  There  are  several  vivid  descrip- 
tions ("  The  Churning  of  the  Ocean  ")  of  the  wholesale 
destruction  by  fire  of  great  stretches  of  jungle  and 


APPENDICES  173 

forest.  This  should  be  contrasted  with  the  slower 
method  of  European  iron  age  invaders,  who  hacked 
their  way  with  difficulty  through  the  forested  river 
valleys.  Anyone  who  has  read  Kipling's  story  of  the 
return  of  the  jungle  will  readily  appreciate  that  the 
rapidity  and  luxuriance  of  forest  growth  in  tropical 
and  semi-tropical  lands  is  the  geographical  factor  under- 
lying the  different  methods. 

Later  stories  illustrate  the  same  tendency.  The 
old  Norse  Saga  show  us  links  on  the  ancient  amber 
trade  route  developing  into  later  links  between  the 
semi-Asiatic  marts  to  the  north  of  the  Black  sea  and  the 
Icelandic  and  Scandinavian  Sea  traders  and  sea-fighters. 
It  must  be  confessed,  however,  that  one  would  not  be 
inclined  to  go  so  far  as  a  modern  writer  who  would 
make  Odin  a  Russian  merchant  and  would  give  us  the 
name  of  the  town  which  was  his  central  depot. 

In  that  fascinating  twilight  of  early  history,  when 
legend  and  fact  became  quaintly  intermingled  in  the 
tales  which  amused  the  leisure  of  the  pilgrims  and 
knights  of  early  Christendom  are  preserved  many  indi- 
cations of  the  lines  of  movement  of  peoples  in  Europe. 
Frequently  the  trading  route  of  prehistoric  times  be- 
came a  pilgrim  route,  especially  as  the  church  found 
it  useful  to  link  the  megalithic  worship  of  heathendom 
with  the  new  Christianity  by  consecrating  shrines 
which  age-long  custom  had  sanctified.  Compostella 
is  a  case  in  point,  and  in  early  times  so  sacred  was  this 
shrine  held  to  be  that  Dante  defines  pilgrims  as  those  who 
have  made  this  special  journey.  Now  the  pilgrim  route 
to  the  shrine  of  St  James  of  Compostella  from  Ireland 
and  the  western  shores  of  Britain  followed  the  path 
of  the  trading  route  of  the  ^Egean  wanderers  of  the 
Bronze  Age,  and  the  records  of  the  Celtic  saints  are 
full  of  references  to  old  time  connections  between  Pem- 
broke, Cornwall,  Brittany,  and  Galicia.  Traditional 
records  of  the  history  of  our  island,  e.g.  Geoffrey  of 
Monmouth's  "  History  of  the  Kings  of  Britain,"  the 


174  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

"  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,"  the  "  Annals  of  Clon- 
macnoise,"  are  so  full  of  obvious  chronological  follies 
and  quaint  inaccuracies  that  there  has  been  a  tendency 
to  regard  them  as  valueless.  But  at  anyrate  they  in- 
dicate clearly  the  very  early  connection  of  the  western 
shores  of  our  islands  with  the  coastal  fringes  of  Europe, 
with  the  isles  of  the  ^Egean,  and  with  Northern  Africa. 
The  Nibelungenlied  is  another  stirring  record  of  early 
connections  between  the  Rhine  lands,  Burgundy,  the 
cities  and  tangled  valleys  of  South  Germany,  and  Austria 
and  the  land  of  the  Huns. 

Another  aspect  of  the  sunset  of  old  tales  is  the 
mapping  of  places  where  different  versions  of  the  same 
theme  are  to  be  found.  The  theme  of  the  brother 
inconsolable  for  the  loss  of  his  fish  hook,  which  is  so 
amusingly  told  in  the  Japanese  "  Ko-ji-ki,"  is  in  one 
form  or  other  widely  spread  in  Indonesia  and  N.W. 
America.  Versions  are  reported  from  America.  It 
has  also  been  traced  in  the  Kei  Islands,  Halmahera, 
Soemba,  Minahassa,  Celebes,  and  Sumatra.  The  ver- 
sion from  the  Kei  Islands  makes  the  loss  of  the  hook 
the  central  theme  of  a  creation  story.  The  hook 
belongs  to  brothers  living  in  the  sky  world,  and  in  order 
to  punish  his  elder  brother  for  complaining  of  the 
loss  of  the  hook,  the  younger  brother  insists  that  some 
spilled  liquor  shall  be  collected.  In  digging  for  the 
liquor  the  brothers  made  a  hole  clean  through  the  sky 
world  and  through  this  they  and  their  sister  descended 
to  earth  and  became  the  ancestors  of  mankind.  The 
tracing  of  the  probable  course  of  current  and  wind- 
driven  rafts  from  Indonesia  and  Japan  to  the  north- 
western shores  of  America,  combined  with  the  variations 
in  the  type  of  this  tale,  throws  rmrch  light  on  early 
population  drifts. 

Geographic  conditions  have  even  influenced  the  ways 
in  which  tradition  was  written  down.  A  comparison 
between  the  graceful  curves  and  delicate  drawings  of 
Egyptian  Hieroglyphic  script  and  the  angular,  wedge- 


APPENDICES  175 

shaped  signs  of  Babylonia  brings  out  the  point  that 
the  papyrus  on  which  the  Egyptian  scribe  worked  was 
much  more  favourable  to  curves  than  the  soft  clay 
of  Babylonia.  The  late  development  of  writing  in  India 
is  certainly  correlated  with  the  extreme  difficulty  of 
finding  a  medium  which  will  not  rot  in  the  monsoon 
damp  and  which  will  resist  the  raids  of  the  ants.  The 
hard  bamboo  on  which  the  Chinese  inscribed  their 
records  made  possible  the  development  of  their  com- 
plicated script,  with  its  multitudes  of  fine  strokes. 

The  above  are  a  few  indications  of  the  ways  in  which 
geography  may  be  developed  from  a  basis  of  traditional 
tales.  It  is  obvious  that  the  geographical  setting 
of  a  tale  need  not  always  be  developed  when  the  tale  is 
first  given  to  the  child.  The  teacher  must  decide  at 
what  stage  and  in  what  form,  as  well  as  to  what  extent, 
it  need  be  given  at  all.  The  really  important  thing 
is  so  to  select  and  to  tell  the  tales  that  the  child  shall 
have  an  unconscious  foundation  of  geographical  ideas 
on  which  future  knowledge  may  be  built. 


II 


IN  considering  the  historical  aspects  of  traditions,  it 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  last  hundred  years  have 
brought  profound  changes  in  methods  of  criticism  and 
in  possibilities  of  disentangling  the  substratum  of  truth 
from  the  super-strata  of  ornament  and  tradition.  Im- 
proved methods  of  archaeological  research  combined 
with  greater  appreciation  of  the  value  of  the  science 
itself,  have  led  to  increasing  knowledge  of  the  steps 
by  which  the  first  civilizations  were  built  up  and  of  the 
routes  along  which  great  migrations  of  culture  have 
travelled.  Legends  of  routes  may  now  be  checked  by 
reference  to  maps  of  the  finds  of  things  men  dropped, 
or  of  the  stones  and  buildings  they  erected.  The 
mapping  of  great  stone  monuments  brings  out  the 
point  to  point  sea-trading  routes,  with  land  crossings 
over  the  bases  of  the  peninsulas.  The  mapping  of 
the  finds  of  bronze  and  iron  weapons  led  scholars  to 
realize  that  the  forested  valleys  were  obstacles  to  com- 
munication until  iron  tools  were  in  common  use.  This 
threw  a  new  light  on  the  Neolithic  Age  in  Europe  and 
opened  men's  eyes  to  the  moorland  life  whose  heritages 
are  so  subtly  woven  into  our  modern  social  system. 
The  work  of  the  various  schools  of  archeology  in  Egypt, 
Greece,  Crete,  and  Asia  Minor  has  thrown  a  searching 
light  on  the  writings  of  early  Greek  and  Hebrew  authors, 
and  has  revealed  substantial  and  unexpected  bases 
of  truth  for  legends  which  had  once  been  taken  to  be 
entirely  the  work  of  imagination.  Perhaps  the  most 
familiar  instance  is  the  legend  of  the  Minotaur.  Dis- 

176 


APPENDICES  177 

coveries  in  Crete,  especially  those  at  Knossos  and 
Hephaistos,  taken  in  conjunction  with  records  on 
Egyptian  and  Cretan  monuments  prove  that  there  was 
an  early  thalassocracy  in  the  Eastern  ^Egean  and  that 
the  tributes  and  hostages  exacted  by  the  Minoan  leaders 
of  this  thalassocracy  gave  rise  to  the  legend  of  the 
Minotaur. 

The  importance  of  the  history  of  Herodotus  for  the 
teacher  who  wants  to  introduce  history  and  geography 
in  story  form  cannot  be  overestimated.  The  first 
sentence  is  "  These  are  the  researches  of  Herodotus 
of  Halicarnassus,  which  he  publishes  in  the  hope  of 
thereby  preserving  from  decay  the  remembrance  of 
what  men  have  done  and  of  preventing  the  great  and 
wonderful  actions  of  the  Greeks  and  the  Barbarians 
from  losing  their  due  meed  of  glory  and  withal  to  put 
on  record  what  were  their  grounds  of  feud."  The 
special  value  of  the  book  lies  in  the  broad  spirit  in  which 
the  phrase  "  their  grounds  of  feud  "  has  been  inter- 
preted. As  Hall  says,  "  And  he  began  from  the  be- 
ginning of  ancient  story,  from  the  Trojan  war  and  before 
that  from  the  Rape  of  lo.  For  he  rightly  saw  that 
the  great  event  had  indeed  had  its  ultimate  origin  in 
the  furthest  recesses  of  time,  when  the  ancient  civiliza- 
tions of  the  Eastern  Mediterranean  first  evolved  them- 
selves out  of  chaos  and  the  peoples  of  the  Nile  land,  of 
Western  Asia  and  of  the  ^Egean  first  came  into  contact 
with  each  other."  In  order  to  get  his  background 
of  pre-history  clear  he  first  described  the  various 
countries  which  were  the  homes  of  the  people  who  were 
to  play  their  part  upon  the  final  stage.  He  described 
not  only  their  physical  surroundings,  but  also  their 
social  environment — their  customs,  their  religion,  their 
heroes  and  their  traditions.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
that  he  knew  far  less  of  the  pre-history  of  Greece  than 
he  did  of  the  lands  outside  it,  for  reasons  which  will 
be  readily  understood  by  the  student  of  the  compli- 
cated movements  of  peoples  to  and  fro  between  the 

M 


178  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

continent  of  Europe  and  Asia  and  the  islands  that 
lay  between.  On  the  other  hand  his  records  of  Media 
are  curiously  exact — perhaps,  as  Hall  suggests,  because 
he  was  able  to  get  first-hand  information  from  the 
Median  Harpagide  satraps  who  ruled  Caria  for  the 
Persians.  His  chapters  on  Egypt  vary  very  much  in 
reliability,  and  some  of  them  are  undoubtedly  more  in 
the  nature  of  genuine  folk  tale  than  of  historical  tra- 
dition. But  the  whole  of  his  work  teems  with  descrip- 
tions of  peoples  and  customs  and  beliefs  told  in  a  most 
vividly  interesting  human  fashion.  The  work  of  the 
great  Greek  father  of  historians  and  modern  geographers 
has  gained  immensely  in  interest  and  value  since  it  has 
been  possible  to  decipher  the  scripts  of  ancient  Egypt, 
Assyria,  Elam  and  pre-Semitic  Babylon.  When  a  new 
Champollion  arises  to  unlock  the  secrets  of  the  Minoan 
Scripts,  a  fascinating  chapter  will  be  added  to  the  story 
of  the  contributions  of  the  Eastern  ^Egean  to  the  world's 
civilizations,  but  at  present  they  remain  tantalizingly 
undecipherable. 

As  a  great  deal  of  Herodotus  is  based  on  tradition 
— on  records  handed  on  orally  from  one  generation 
to  another — it  may  be  well  to  point  out  that  the  oral 
traditions  of  nations  which  perforce  relied  on  word 
of  mouth  and  not  on  written  records  have  a  value 
and  accuracy  which  is  almost  beyond  the  compre- 
hension of  the  modern  mind.  Among  the  writings 
of  Frederick  York  Powell,  published  in  the  second 
volume  of  his  life  by  Elton,  is  a  short  essay  on  "  Tra- 
dition and  its  Conditions  "  which  is  most  illuminating. 
He  emphasizes  the  conditions  of  tradition  and  cites 
the  Druid  schools  of  the  Gauls,  the  Vedic  schools  of 
India,  the  Bardic  schools  of  Ireland,  and  the  Maori 
schools.  Each  of  these  schools  must  be  considered 
as  taking  the  place  of  universities  in  modern  thought, 
and  the  very  greatest  care  was  taken  that  the  medium 
by  which  the  systems  of  philosophy,  mythology,  history, 
medical  lore,  etc.,  were  handed  on  should  be  as  perfect 


APPENDICES  179 

as  possible.  That  medium  in  an  unlettered  community 
was  the  human  memory,  and  would-be  students  were 
first  tested  as  to  their  powers  of  memorizing  meticulously 
and  accurately,  and  later  were  trained  to  develop  those 
powers  to  their  fullest  extent.  In  the  case  of  the  Irish 
bard  the  minimum  time  of  training  was  twelve  years, 
but  at  the  end  of  that  time  he  had  not  only  learnt 
the  elements  of  the  system  mentioned  above,  but  could 
also  repeat  accurately  any  one  of  at  least  three  hundred 
and  fifty  tales  in  prose  and  poetry.  If  this  seems  in- 
credible it  should  be  compared  with  the  marvellous 
retentive  powers  some  children  possess.  Imagine  such 
a  child  trained  for  years  in  accuracy  of  spoken  repetition 
by  daily  criticism  of  the  smallest  deviation  from  standard, 
and  trained  also  to  regard  memorizing  as  a  sacred  duty. 
Of  course  in  Irish  and  Maori  tales,  as  in  the  Homeric 
poems  and  the  Chansons  de  Geste,  there  were  regularly 
recurrent  descriptive  formulae  to  help  the  reciter. 

To  quote  Professor  York  Powell.  "  What  comes  out 
of  all  this  (and  there  is  much  more  that  could  be  said 
on  these  archaic  arrangements  for  securing  the  trans- 
mission of  knowledge  and  science  without  the  use  of 
letters)  is  that,  unless  interrupted  by  a  revolution, 
such  as  the  incoming  of  new  religion  and  culture, 
conquest  from  abroad  or  enforced  emigration,  a  certain 
number  of  traditions  (larger  than  we  should  probably 
expect)  may  be  handed  down  in  a  form  little  changed 
for  centuries." 

Synchronisms  in  traditions  have  been  carefully  com- 
pared by  scholars  and  have  demonstrated  incontest- 
ably  the  possibilities  of  entire  accuracy  in  the  trained 
tradition  recital  for  eight  or  ten  or  even  more  genera- 
tions. Excavations  in  S.  America  also  point  to  a 
foundation  of  truth  for  the  tradition  of  sea  invaders 
who  must  have  come  nearly  nineteen  centuries  ago. 
It  should  be  specially  noted,  however,  that  very  rarely 
was  it  possible  for  an  outsider  to  obtain  first-hand 
traditions  from  the  caste  that  recorded  them.  They 


180  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

were  the  exclusive  property  of  the  trained  few,  who 
jealously  preserved  the  privileges  of  their  order  and  did 
not  readily  admit  anyone  to  their  confidence.  A 
marked  effect  of  the  development  of  a  caste  whose 
business  it  is  to  record  the  nation's  traditions  is  that 
if  this  caste  obtains  the  supremacy  in  government  it 
may  alter  and  adapt  the  tradition  to  suit  its  own  ends. 
This  is  true  of  both  script  and  pre-script  days,  for  there 
is  no  doubt  that  when  man  is  his  own  annalist  his  records 
are  apt  to  be  unreliable.  Fortunately  archaeology  is 
a  good  corrective  and  complement  to  these  records. 
One  of  the  most  interesting  attempts  to  falsify  history 
is  that  of  Chihwangti,  the  first  Emperor  of  the  Tsin 
dynasty  of  China.  He  actually  issued  an  edict  (213  B.C.) 
that  every  record  of  times  before  his  reign  should  be 
burnt,  and  especially  those  of  Confucius  and  Mencius. 
Klaproth  remarks  that  the  durable  material  on  which 
records  were  then  kept  in  China  (i.e.  bamboo  tablets 
engraved  with  a  stylet  or  having  the  characters  stained 
on  them  with  varnish)  probably  accounted  for  the 
successful  salvage  of  a  few  of  the  copies  which  escaped 
"  the  fires  of  the  Tsin."  But  in  China,  where  the  art 
of  memorizing  has  attained  a  wonderful  degree  of  per- 
fection, it  is  quite  possible  that  scholars  who  escaped 
the  executions  were  able  to  re-write  their  classics  from 
memory. 

Alongside  the  attempts  of  rulers  to  tamper  with 
records  must  be  placed  the  attempts  of  religious  leaders 
to  impress  their  followers.  The  following  story  taken 
from  the  Mahabharata  illustrates  this  well.  It  is  told 
to  account  for  the  lowness  of  the  Vindhya  range  in 
comparison  with  the  Himalayas.  Once  upon  a  time 
Vindhya  grew  very  proud  and  increased  his  body  to 
such  an  extent  as  to  obstruct  the  course  of  the  sun. 
The  gods  were  very  much  alarmed  and  in  their  distress 
appealed  to  the  sage  Agastya,  who  was  Vindhya's  pre- 
ceptor. Agastya,  who  dwelt  in  Northern  India,  resolved 
to  proceed  to  the  south.  When  he  reached  the  foot 


APPENDICES  181 

of  Vindhya,  the  latter,  beholding  his  venerable  pre- 
ceptor, bowed  down  his  head  to  worship  him.  Agastya 
ordered  him  to  stay  in  that  posture  till  he  came  back, 
but,  as  he  never  came  back,  Vindhya  has  been  obliged 
to  stay  in  that  posture,  to  the  relief  of  all  creatures. 
The  story  illustrates  also  the  point  previously  made  of 
the  subtle  way  in  which  custom  creeps  into  a  story. 
Those  who  know  anything  of  the  extraordinary  belief 
existing  among  some  sections  of  Hindus  even  to-day 
in  the  efficacy  of  practising  corporal  mortifications 
such  as  remaining  in  one  uncomfortable  posture  for 
years  will  understand  how  naturally  the  idea  of 
Vindhya's  age-long  bowing  of  the  head  occurred  to 
them. 

One  valuable  effect  of  the  keeping  of  the  records 
by  priestly  castes  who  came  to  regard  their  preserva- 
tion as  a  sacred  duty  is  that  archaisms  were  retained 
and  these  are  of  the  greatest  value  in  determining  the 
primal  meaning  and  origins  of  the  story.  When  the 
tale  is  handed  down  merely  as  one  to  while  away  an  idle 
hour  and  not  as  a  sacred  thing  which  must  be  preserved 
intact,  the  teller  is  apt  to  try  to  bring  the  story  in  line  with 
modern  conditions.  The  Welsh  folk  tale,  "  The  Lady 
of  Llyn  y  Fan  Each,"  may  be  cited  here.  It  is,  most 
probably,  a  reminiscence  of  the  clash  between  the  moor- 
land, stone-using  culture  and  the  incoming  iron-using 
valley  clearing  culture.  The  moorland  folk  held  the 
new-found  iron  a  thing  tabu  and  hence  the  maiden 
will  not  eat  bread  baked  on  iron  and  is  to  return  to  her 
home  if  touched  by  iron.  Later  tellers  of  the  story, 
in  days  when  iron  had  been  so  long  in  use  that  it  had 
been  taken  for  granted,  did  not  understand  the  allusion 
to  the  stone  hearth  and  so  made  it  a  question  of  the  crisp 
baking  of  the  dough,  while  they  substituted  the  striking 
of  the  bride  for  the  touching  her  with  iron.  This  is  at 
least  a  plausible  hypothesis  helping  us  to  interpret 
variants  of  folk  tales. 

If  history  is  envisaged  as  the  story  of  the  men  and 


i8z  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

women  and  children  of  all  nations  and  of  all  ages,  and 
an  attempt  is  made  to  grasp  the  essentials  of  their 
experience  as  a  unity,  then  tradition  is  most  valuable. 
For  traditions  often  record  the  broad  facts  which  have 
influenced  the  whole  nation,  and  they  may  hand  on 
generalized  truths  which  are  obscured  or  altogether 
forgotten  in  those  specialized  records  of  political 
activities  which  too  frequently  have  been  considered 
the  only  history  worth  studying.  Modern  times  furnish 
us  with  examples  of  how  historic  facts  which  form  the 
groundwork  of  the  nation's  daily  life  may  be  the  basis 
of  popular  stories.  The  popular  tales  of  Dickens, 
Kingsley,  George  Eliot  and  a  host  of  others  who  have 
recorded  the  sufferings  of  the  poor  are  based  on  the  fact 
that  the  social  conditions  of  the  industrial  age  of 
England  involved  starvation,  mental,  moral,  and  physical, 
and  much  dreary  degradation  for  great  masses  of  the 
nation.  The  truth  was  there  before  the  tales  were 
made,  but  the  tales  spread  and  emphasized  the  truth 
and  who  shall  say  how  much  of  the  bitterness  with  which 
the  workman  of  to-day  faces  even  well-meaning  and 
enlightened  employers  is  due  to  the  grip  which  those 
tales  had  upon  the  people's  hearts  ?  Christianity  in 
its  better  sense  owes  more  perhaps  to  the  tales  of  the 
multitude  of  obscure  monks  and  nuns  who  went  among 
the  poor  of  all  nations  endeavouring  to  live  up  to  the 
spirit  of  "  Love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself  "  than  it  does 
to  the  organized  ecclesiastical  rule  which  grew  out  of 
these  efforts.  The  legends  of  the  saints  are  full  of 
quaint  exaggerations  and  impossibilities  from  that 
of  the  great  St  Francis  downwards,  but  they  are  based 
on  the  sound  historic  fact  that  the  self-sacrifice  of  these 
idealists  helped  to  lessen  the  world's  burden  of  suffering 
at  a  time  when  such  efforts  were  sorely  needed. 

One  great  use,  then,  of  traditional  tales  is  to  give 
us  the  history  of  the  conditions  of  life  of  the  great  body 
of  the  people  and  to  show  us  the  things  which  wrought 
important  changes  in  their  conditions  and  were,  there- 


APPENDICES  183 

fore,  perpetuated  in  the  popular  fancy.  Another 
great  use  is  to  show  us  the  sequences  of  world  life  and 
thought  in  all  their  differing  time,  type,  and  place 
phases.  The  intensive  study  of  the  history  of  one's 
native  land  would  follow  naturally  on  this  wider  intro- 
duction and  would  be  seen  in  truer  proportion  and 
with  greater  understanding  against  such  a  background. 
The  correlation  of  sciences  is  showing  that  many  so- 
called  myths  and  folk  tales  have  a  very  real  substratum 
of  truth  underlying  them.  It  is,  however,  a  most 
delicate  task  to  try  to  preserve  the  balance  between 
the  recognition  of  this  truth  and  the  unguarded  assump- 
tion that  every  incident  in  every  folk  tale  has  some 
historical  meaning.  This  assumption  is  as  foolish  in 
its  way  as  the  old  habit  of  finding  a  nature  myth  in 
every  record  of  the  past.  The  best  safeguard  is  to 
use  the  tradition  to  illustrate  the  broad  sequence  of 
events  rather  than  to  teach  detailed  incidents. 

There  are  certain  curious  recurrences  in  history  in 
many  parts  of  the  world.  Possibilities  of  a  good  return 
for  the  agriculturist  lead  to  settled  life,  with  develop- 
ment of  arts  and  industries.  This  leads  to  growing 
needs  and  hence  to  great  wanderings  of  the  more  ad- 
venturous part  of  the  population  to  find  the  raw  materials 
to  satisfy  those  needs.  These  great  wanderings  bring 
knowledge  of  other  lands  and  other  ways  of  life  and 
frequently  lead  to  a  remarkable  blossoming  of  the  in- 
tellectual and  artistic  side  of  the  national  life.  Some- 
times the  lands  of  raw  material  supply  are  in  a  stage  of 
civilization,  or  lack  of  it,  which  makes  them  helpless 
before  the  newcomers.  Then  follows  a  period  of  ex- 
ploitation which  apparently  brings  wealth  and  power 
to  the  exploiters,  but  which  later  permeates  their  life 
with  the  seeds  of  decay.  The  Spanish  exploitation 
of  the  American  silver  mines,  the  Hanseatic  exploita- 
tion of  the  Scandinavian  countries,  the  exploitation  of 
Asia  by  Egypt,  the  fate  of  Assyria,  are  cases  in  point. 
This  has  its  special  bearing  on  the  modern  exploitation 


1 84  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

of  native  labour  and  resources  in  tropical  and  sub- 
tropical lands.  Other  great  wanderings  have  been  the 
result  of  changing  climatic  conditions  in  regions  where 
vegetation  is  naturally  so  scanty  that  a  small  increase 
in  dessication  makes  scrub  and  semi-steppe  into  desert. 
The  unrest  of  the  nomads  of  the  steppe  and  semi- 
desert  has  always  had  disastrous  effects  on  their  more 
settled  neighbours.  Agriculture  was  frequently  ruined 
by  their  destructive  inroads,  for  ruined  olive  yards 
and  irrigation  works,  the  growth  of  generations  of  steady 
industry,  are  not  easily  replaced.  Sometimes  the  in- 
coming barbarian  tide  overwhelmed  the  older  civiliza- 
tion so  completely  that  it  was  wiped  out  as  an  empire. 
But  legendary  tales  of  its  wealth  and  refinement 
lingered,  and  its  survivals  profoundly  modified  and  up- 
lifted the  standards  of  life  and  conduct  of  the  con- 
querors. Such  was  the  fate  of  the  Mycenean  and 
Minoan  civilizations,  which  influenced  so  vitally  the 
development  of  classical  Greece. 

The  discovery  of  some  new  type  of  weapon  or  method 
of  warfare,  some  new  aid  to  rapid  locomotion  or  to  rapid 
accumulation  of  wealth,  has  been  a  fruitful  source  of 
unrest  and  change.  The  war-horse  of  the  Hyksos  gave 
them  an  easy  conquest  over  the  Egyptian  armies,  the 
iron  sword  destroyed  the  bronze-using  armies,  the 
fiercest  and  most  warlike  native  tribes  are  helpless  before 
the  scientific  devices  of  the  Western  World.  The 
Centaurs,  Excalibur,  the  magic  sword,  and  Merlin's 
wondrous  mechanical  devices  for  erecting  the  great 
stones  are  examples  of  this  type  of  tradition. 

For  legends  of  the  introduction  of  some  new  factor 
affecting  the  people's  daily  life  there  may  be  quoted 
those  in  which  the  plough  figures  large,  e.g.  Chinese 
coronation  legends,  Triptolemus,  Eochaid ;  those  com- 
memorating the  bringing  of  fire,  e.g.  Prometheus, 
Maui ;  the  introduction  of  some  new  food  or  drink, 
e.g.  the  orange  in  Japan,  the  Amrit  in  India. 

Invaluable   to   the  historian   are   the   half-historical, 


APPENDICES  185 

half-legendary  tales  which  gather  round  the  names 
of  great  heroes,  prophets,  sages  and  reformers.  Their 
human  interest  appeals  strongly  to  the  child  mind 
and  their  lives  give  a  concrete  record  of  the  social 
ideals  and  customs  of  their  land  and  time.  Out- 
standing names  are  Narmer,  Cheops,  Akhenaten,  Gudea, 
Hammurabi,  Yu,  Chowsin,  Confucius,  Jemmu-Temnu, 
Manu,  Buddha,  Rama,  Asoka,  Zoroaster,  Muhammad, 
Cyrus,  Cambyses,  Croesus,  Minos,  Theseus,  ^Eneas, 
Solon,  Alexander,  Lycurgus,  Romulus  and  Remus, 
Cuchulain,  Nuadhat  of  the  Silver  Hand,  Merlin, 
Arthur,  The  Venerable  Bede,  Alfred  the  Great.  These 
are  a  few  names  merely  set  down  as  indications  of  the 
wealth  of  such  stories  that  exists.  Others  will  readily 
occur  to  the  teacher.  Great  traditions  help  to  mould 
the  future  of  the  race,  and  their  presence  or  absence 
means  much  in  the  life  of  a  people,  for  inspired  action 
must  always  be  preceded  by  inspired  ideals.  It  would 
surely  be  a  fine  thing  to  give  our  children  an  opportunity 
to  share  the  best  traditions  of  the  whole  world,  so 
that  they  might  be  inspired  with  a  love  for  and  an 
appreciation  of  the  varied  ideals  of  humanity  as  a  whole. 
Might  not  this  help  towards  a  new  and  better  con- 
ception of  the  mediaeval  Civitas  Dei,  a  conception 
of  all  humanity  as  a  unified,  yet  infinitely  diverse, 
living  Civitas  Dei  ? 


Ill 


IT  is  essential  that  tales  shall  be  so  selected  as  to  form 
part  of  a  reasoned  scheme,  though  the  scheme  itself 
will,  of  course,  vary  widely  according  to  the  needs  of 
teacher  and  scholars. 

A  scheme  that  is  of  special  value  is  one  that  combines 
both  the  historical  and  the  geographical  point  of  view. 
A  series  of  stories  might  be  so  arranged  as  to  illustrate 
sequences  of  civilization  roughly  concurrent  in  stage 
but  chosen  from  diverse  lands.  Students  who  have 
worked  from  Mr  Harold  Peake's  "  Brief  Description 
of  the  History  of  Civilization  of  the  Old  World " 
(2400  B.C.  onwards)  will  realize  the  advantage  of  trying 
to  envisage  the  regions  of  the  world  at  successive  epochs. 
This  is  one  of  the  best  correctives  to  the  tendency  of 
the  historian  to  over-emphasize  the  importance  of  one 
epoch  and  of  the  geographer  to  over-emphasize  the  value 
of  one  region.  World  history  shows  that  neither  any 
one  place,  nor  any  one  epoch,  nor  any  particular  race 
of  mankind,  can  claim  a  monopoly  of  the  essentials 
of  progress  in  civilization. 

A  scheme  of  this  type  has  been  worked  out  in  some 
detail  at  the  end  of  the  chapter,  so  as  to  illustrate  its 
possibilities.  It  is,  of  course,  only  a  tentative  suggestion, 
and  neither  the  headings  nor  the  stories  given  under 
them  are  exhaustive.  It  is  merely  given  as  an  outline 
of  how  to  set  about  working  out  a  series  as  a  basis  for 
definite  teaching  of  both  subjects.  It  has  the  added 
advantage  that  it  can  easily  be  continued  right  on  to 
our  own  times. 

186 


APPENDICES  187 

Other  suggestions  for  schemes  are  : — 

1.  Stories  illustrating  the  clash  of  differing  civiliza- 
tions,  e.g.   Stone  Age   and  Metal  Age  ;    Hunter   and 
Farmer ;      Lake    Dweller    and    Nomad ;     Nomad    and 
City  Dweller ;    Hills  and  the  Plain ;    Settled  Egyptian 
culture  and  Wanderers  from  the  desert  and  the  sea  ; 
Babylonian  trader   and  Assyrian  warrior  ;    Aryan   and 
Dravidian ;      Hellene     and     Barbarian ;      Greek     and 
Persian  ;    The  Roman  South  and  the  Barbaric  North  ; 
Moor  and  Spaniard  ;   Spaniard  and  Aztec. 

2.  A  study  of  tabus.     Stories  based  on  the  effect  of 
breaking  the  special  tabus  of  the  tribe  or  nation  bring 
out    geographic    and    social    conditions    very    clearly. 
"  Cursed   be  he  that  removeth  his  neighbour's  land- 
mark "  has   little   meaning  in   a   well-ordered  English 
village  where  th£*1ields  are  clearly  marked  off  one  from 
another,  but  it  was  full  of  meaning  in  the  muddy  reaches 
of  the  Nile  and  Mesopotamia.     The  touching  of  iron 
has  been  instanced  already  in  the  story  of  the  Lady  of 
Llyn  y  Fan  Fach.     The  wandering  tribes  of  the  semi- 
desert  and  the  hunger  steppe  hold  it  tabu  not  to  offer 
hospitality  to  all  who  come,  while  some  other  tribes 
hold  it  tabu  to  begin  a  meal  without  first  calling  aloud 
three  times  to  see  if  anyone  within  hearing  would  like 
to  share.     Sometimes   tabus  have   been   established  in 
order  to  prevent  the  conquering  minority  from  being 
merged  in  the  mass  of  the  conquered.     This  has  some 
bearing  on  the  origins  of  the  caste  system  in  India. 

3.  Stories  illustrating  the  introduction  of  some  new 
factor  in  social  life,  e.g.  the  war-horse,  as  in  the  Centaurs, 
the  Aswamedha  or  Horse  Sacrifice  in  India,  the  Hyksos. 
A  more  modern  instance  is  the  effect  of  the  war-horse  in 
the  campaigns  of  Cortes.     The  introduction  of  a  new 
food,  e.g.  the  orange  in  Japan  or  a  special  drink,  e.g. 
the  Amrit    in    India,  the    use    of    glass  in   India,  the 
coming  of  flint,  the  use  of  iron,  the  introduction  of 


writing. 


4.  Stories   that   bring   out   the   essentials   of   life   in 


1 88  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

different  countries,  e.g.  The  Corn  Goddess,  the  Rice 
God,  the  Wine  God,  the  Salt  God,  Sun  Worship,  The 
Return  of  Spring,  the  Worship  of  Cloud  and  Storm, 
the  Sea  God,  the  River  God,  the  God  of  the  Hills, 
Tree  Worship,  Serpent  Worship.  In  this  group  might 
also  go  the  symbols  of  the  various  divinities  and  royal 
families — the  dove,  the  serpent,  the  double  axe,  the 
bull,  the  cat,  the  hawk,  the  eagle,  the  mistletoe,  the  ash, 
the  lotus,  the  floral  emblems  of  Mexico,  the  haliotis 
shells  of  Florida  and  New  Mexico.  The  stories  of 
special  cunning  in  animals  would  fit  in  well  too — the 
African  spider,  the  Japanese  hare,  the  N.  American 
Coyote,  the  fox,  the  rabbit,  the  tai  fish.  Such  a  scheme 
carefully  planned  out  might  form  an  introduction  to 
the  great  climatic  vegetation  and  fauna  zones  of  the 
world. 

5.  Stories  that  bring  out  differences  in  ideal  and  out- 
look on  life. 

This  would  necessarily  be  for  rather  more  advanced 
work  and  not  for  very  young  children  and  would  need 
very  careful,  thoughtful  treatment.  It  might  be  based 
not  only  on  the  histories  of  the  founders  of  great 
religions,  but  also  on  extracts  from  the  rules  of  conduct 
of  life  suggested  as  ideals,  and  on  stories  of  what  men 
and  women  have  felt  that  they  valued  more  than  their 
own  life  or  than  that  of  their  loved  ones.  It  would 
necessarily  involve  a  careful  consideration  of  the  physical 
and  social  environment  in  which  the  ideals  developed 
or  withered  and  of  the  epochs  in  which  the  idealist 
lived.  It  need  not  be  altogether  based  on  leaders  in 
thought.  There  are  important  geographic  conditions 
underlying  such  things  as  respect  for  old  age  and  ex- 
perience or  for  youth  and  energy,  the  position  accorded 
to  women,  the  care  and  education  of  children,  the  respect 
accorded  to  various  occupations  and  so  on.  The  further 
back  we  probe  into  history  and  pre-history  the  more 
difference  does  mere  geographic  environment  make 
in  social  conditions.  It  is  important  to  remember, 


APPENDICES  189 

however,  that  all  our  modern  social  system  is  not  sheer 
improvement  on  our  ancestors'  codes  of  conduct.  To 
cite  one  instance  only,  it  is  a  somewhat  dubious  advantage 
to  have  substituted  tabus  about  clothes  and  cutlery 
at  meal  times  for  a  tabu  against  omitting  to  invite 
hungry  neighbours  to  share. 


SUGGESTED  SCHEME  OF  TALES 

Stories  given  in  the  First  Part  of  this  book  are 
marked  with  an  asterisk. 

I.  In  the  Beginning. 

1.  Old  Testament  Stories.      Adam   and  Eve;    Noah. 

2.  Iceland.     From  the  Edda.* 

3.  Greece.     Deucalion  and  Pyrrha.* 

4.  West  Africa.     Creation  Story.* 

5.  Egypt.     Osiris.* 

6.  Assyria  and  Babylonia.     Legend  of  Ishtar ;  *  Baby- 

lonian Creation  Story.* 

7.  India.     The    Creation ;  *    the  Origin  of   Death ;  * 

the  Coming  of  Ganges.* 

8.  China.     Pwanku.* 

9.  Japan.     Prince  Fire-Shine  and  Prince  Fire-Subside.* 

10.  N.  America.     The  Coming  of  Flint ;  *    Why  People 

Don't  Live  for  Ever.* 

11.  New    Zealand   and    Polynesia.     Creation    Story;* 

Legend  of  Maui.* 


//.  Early  Settlements  and  Early  Trade. 

1.  Europe.     The  Lake  Dwellers.* 

2.  Egypt.     The  Story  of  Sanehat.* 

3.  Assyria  and  Babylonia.     Gudea  ;  *    Hammurabi.* 

4.  India  and  Malay  Peninsula.     The  Sons  of  Pandu ;  * 


190  ANCIENT  TALES  FROM  MANY  LANDS 

the  Churning  of  the  Ocean  ;  *    Changkat  Ram- 
bian.* 
5.  China.     The  Story  of  Yu.* 

///.  Great  Wanderings. 

1.  Old  Testament  Stories.     Joseph;    Moses. 

2.  Britain.     Elidyr  and  the  St  Davids. 

3.  Greece.      The   Argonaut  ;     Minos  ;     Theseus    and 

Ariadne. 

4.  Egypt.    The  Expulsion  of  the  Hyksos. 

IV.  Later  Wanderings. 

1.  Old  Testament.     Jephtha's  Daughter. 

2.  Britain.     Diarmuid    and    Grainne  ;  *    Nuadhat    of 

the  Silver  Hand.* 

3.  W.  Europe.     The  Leaf-shaped  Swords. 

4.  Greece.     Iphigenia  in  Aulis  ;    the  Siege  of  Troy  ; 


5.  Egypt.     Rameses  III. 

6.  Persia.     Zoroaster. 

7.  China.     Chowsin  and  the  Warlike  Prince.* 

V  .  The  Iron  Sword. 

1.  Old     Testament.       Samuel;     Saul;     David;     the 

Queen  of  Sheba. 

2.  Britain.     The  Milesians  and  Moytura. 

3.  Europe.     The  Hallstadt  Culture. 

4.  Greece.     Codrus  of  Athens. 

5.  Italy.     Hill  Cities  of  Etruria. 

6.  India  and  Ceylon.     Rama  and  Sita.* 

VI.  Many  Foundations. 

1.  Old  Testament.     Sennacherib  ;     Hezekiah  ;     Esar- 

haddon. 

2.  Britain.     Dunwallo  ;  the  Forest  Clearers. 


APPENDICES  191 

3.  Greece.     Olympian  Games. 

4.  Italy.     Romulus  and  Remus. 

5.  Japan.     Jemmu  Temnu. 

6.  Polynesia.     Pacific  Wanderers  and  their  Tales. 

VII.  The  Time  oj  the  Sages. 

1.  Old  Testament.     Daniel. 

2.  Greece.     Croesus ;  Solon  ;  the  Parthenon. 

3.  Italy.     The  Expulsion  of  the  Tarquins. 

4.  Persia.     Cyrus ;   Cambyses ;   Psammetichus. 

5.  India.     Buddha. 

7.  China.     Confucius ;    Lao-Tse. 

Fill.  Great  Conquests. 

1.  Europe.    The  La  Tene  Civilization. 

2.  Macedon.     Alexander  (a)  in  Macedon,  (b)  in  Persia, 

(c)  with  Jaddua,  (d)  at  the  Temple  of  Jupiter 
Ammon. 

3.  Italy.     The   Caudine    Forks ;    the    Geese   on    the 

Capitol. 

4.  India.     Asoka. 

5.  China.     The  Fires  of  the  Tsin. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

BEHIND  every  folk  tale  mentioned  in  this  book  lies  a  course  of  reading 
which  cannot  be  represented  in  this  bibliography.  It  has,  moreover, 
often  been  necessary  to  restrict  references  to  one  version  only  of  a  tale 
which  may  be  widely  distributed  in  varying  forms. 

The  present  bibliography  merely  gives  the  briefest  introduction  to 
further  study  and  should  be  supplemented  by  careful  use  of  the 
"  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,"  to  which  the  reader  is  specially  referred 
for  the  sources  of  British  tales.  Dent's,  Macmillan's,  Luzac's,  and 
other  series  of  translations  of  ancient  books,  including  Breasted's 
"  Ancient  Records "  and  Birch's  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  are  easily 
available  and  are  most  useful.  Herodotus,  Homer,  Virgil,  Plutarch 
stand  out  specially  among  the  classics,  the  translations  of  the  Nibe- 
lungenlied,  Saemund's  Edda,  various  Sagas,  and  the  "  Kalevala  "  among 
the  folk  tales  of  Northern  Europe.  For  the  Chinese  classics  there  are 
Legge's  translations.  There  are  native  translations  of  the  Mahabharata 
and  the  Ramayana,  but  students  should  know  that  these  last  are  not 
only  difficult  to  obtain,  but  are  very  long  and  involved.  An  American 
publication,  "Mythology  of  All  Races,"  in  13  volumes,  is  just  being 
issued  and  gives  useful  summaries  and  bibliographies  (355.  per  volume). 
The  Folk  Lore  Society,  c/o  Sidgwick  &  Jackson,  3  Adam  Street, 
Adelphi,  W.C.,  and  the  Royal  Anthropological  Institute,  50  Gt. 
Russell  Street,  W.C.I,  publish  very  valuable  material,  and  students 
would  find  it  helpful  to  get  into  touch  with  them. 

A  short  list  of  books  specially  useful  as  a  background  to  this  little 
volume  is  appended. 

(a)  For  Special  Study  of  the  Old  Testament. 

Smith,  George  Adam.     "  Historical  Geography  of  the  Holy  Land." 
Huntington,  Ellsworth.     "  Palestine  and  its  Transformation." 
Myres,  J.  L.     "  The  Dawn  of  History." 
Breasted,  J.  H.     "  Ancient  History." 
Hall,  H.  R.     "  The  Ancient  History  of  the  Near  East." 

192 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  193 

(b)  For  the  Archaeological  background  to  the  Legend  of  the  Minotaur. 

Dussaud,  R.  "  Les  Civilisations  Prehelleniques  dans  le  bassin  de 
la  Mer  Egee  "  gives  beautiful  illustrations  of  the  work  of  the 
Minoan  period. 

Evans.     "  Prehistoric  Tombs  of  Knossos."  1   , 

..  TV  .     .     ~        „  Accounts  of 

Burrows.     "  Discoveries  in  Crete.  }-  „     , 

e>  ..  T-.     i       -  i     T  i     j    c  -n/r    i_i     » I  Explorations. 

Seager.     "  Explorations  in  the  Island  of  Mochlos.   ] 

(f)  The  Conditions  of  Tradition. 

Druid  Schools  of  Gaul.     (De  Bell.  Gall.  vi.  13,  14.) 

Bardic  Schools  of  Ireland.     (Hyde,  "  Literary  Hist,  of  Ireland," 

p.  528.) 
Maori  Schools.     (White,  John,  "  Ancient  History  of  the  Maori.") 

(<f)  China. 

Williams.     "  The  Middle  Kingdom." 
King.     "  Farmers  of  Forty  Centuries." 

(e)  Japan. 

Chamberlain,  B.  H.  "Ko-ji-Ki,"  Supplement  to  Vol.  X  of 
Transactions  of  Asiat.  Soc.,  Japan. 

(/)  Polynesia. 

Grey,  Sir  G.     "Polynesian  Mythology,"  Murray,  1885. 


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